Acceleration

So you thought Toyota had finally managed to move beyond the unintended acceleration fiasco of 2009-2010 ? Turns out that's not the case--the company just added another 154,000 vehicles to the list: the 2010 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h. The problem, however, isn't with anything electronic or mechanical. Instead, it's the unsecured or incompatible floor mat issue , which can entrap the accelerator pedal and cause the vehicle to accelerate. If it seems strange to you that something so simple could...

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — Merck & Co Inc. said it will repurchase $5 billion worth of its common stock under an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs & Co. Merck, the world's third-largest drugmaker, said the buyback program is part of a previously announced $15 billion share repurchase program. In the first four months of 2013, Merck repurchased about 17.8 million shares for a total of $772 million. Shares of Merck & Co Inc. rose $2.12, or 4.7 percent, to close at $37.33.

A battery-electric car that accelerates quicker, drives farther and charges faster than any other on the market, the 2012 Tesla Model S is a work in progress whose capacity to evolve is more revolutionary than the fact that it's an electric car. Our experience with the gorgeous Tesla Model S got off to a rocky start. After a couple of hours, our first loaner shut down — not because of a dead battery, but due to a dead key fob. (Unlike all other keyless-access systems, which hide a physical key in the remote and a keyhole on the car, the Model S has none.)

WASHINGTON — A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking. Expanded drilling is unlocking enormous reserves of crude oil and natural gas, offering the potential of moving the country closer to its decades-long quest for energy...

CORNWALL, N.Y. Idrove here at 70 mph — five miles north of legal, five miles south of safe. Theoretically, "safe" or "safer" would have been the median highway speed, the actual rate of travel of fellow motorists along northbound Interstate 87, which was 75 mph. But I didn't want to err on the side of a speeding ticket. I was driving the 2011 Dodge Charger SE, a relatively tame version of the Chrysler Group's lineup of full-size, rear-wheel-drive Dodge Charger sedans. The Charger SE, also marketed as "Charger Base,"...

Elliott Carter, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer who fused European and American modernist traditions in seminal but formidable works, and who lived to hear ovations for music that was once thought to be anything but listener-friendly, died Nov. 5 at his home in New York City. He was 103. His assistant, Virgil Blackwell, confirmed the death but did not disclose an immediate cause. Mr. Carter's career was like some of the towering cathedrals of Europe: so long in the making...

Congressional investigators Monday accused Toyota officials of making misleading public statements about the causes of its runaway cars and faulted federal safety regulators for conducting "cursory and ineffective" investigations because of a crippling lack of expertise. The charges from House members amplify the unprecedented scrutiny focused on the beleaguered automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition to three congressional committees, which are holding hearings beginning Tuesday, a...

Toyota management gave too little weight to feedback from customers, regulators and independent rating agencies, and centered too much control in its Japanese headquarters, according to the report of a special review panel convened after complaints of unintended acceleration forced the automaker to recall millions of cars . The panel, chaired by former U.S. Transportation secretary Rodney Slater, reported that the company apparently did not...

Complaint: The 2-liter, 138-horsepower four-cylinder Elantra Touring is a city-suburban car, especially when carrying loads. On the highway, weighted with cargo, especially moving uphill, it is less than desirable. Ride, acceleration and handling: In the city, it gets good marks for ride and acceleration and an excellent grade for handling. On the highway, it gets a good mark for ride, but highway acceleration and handling get poor grades. Head-turning quotient: The Elantra Touring is one of the best-looking hatchbacks available.

TOYOTA MOTOR Corp. President Akio Toyoda will ladle out healthy portions of mea culpa before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Wednesday. "Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick," he will say, according to prepared testimony . "I would like to point out here that Toyota's priority has traditionally been the following: first, safety; second, quality; and third, volume. These priorities became confused . . . . " That tradition to which Mr. Toyoda refers has run off the road.

Israel's reported airstrikes in Syria — and the threat of a retaliatory strike by the Syrian government — are likely to accelerate the decision-making of the Obama administration , which was already moving toward a sharp escalation of U.S. involvement in the two-year-old crisis. Senior officials said the deployment of U.S. troops to Syria remains unlikely, but they have indicated that a decision will come within weeks on options ranging from the supply of weapons to the Syrian rebels to the...

Slowly but surely, small businesses are starting to accelerate their pace of hiring, helping drive down the overall unemployment rate to a four-year low last month. Small business owners increased employment by an average of 0.14 workers per company in April, according to the latest report from the National Federation of Independent Business. That's still slow growth by historic standards, but it marks the fifth consecutive month of gains after a topsy turvy year in 2012. ...

A battery-electric car that accelerates quicker, drives farther and charges faster than any other on the market, the 2012 Tesla Model S is a work in progress whose capacity to evolve is more revolutionary than the fact that it's an electric car. Our experience with the gorgeous Tesla Model S got off to a rocky start. After a couple of hours, our first loaner shut down — not because of a dead battery, but due to a dead key fob. (Unlike all other keyless-access systems, which hide a physical key in the remote and a keyhole on the car, the...

The erosion of the Syrian regime's authority is accelerating, and the "increasingly beleaguered" government, which has been unable to defeat insurgents with conventional weapons, might be prepared to use chemical weapons, the top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday. James R. Clapper, director of national intelligence, also noted that elements of Syria's biological weapons program "may have advanced beyond the research and development stage," and that Syria possesses conventional and...

As Fortify Ventures enters its second year in the District, the seed-stage investment firm and start-up accelerator welcomes a fresh crop of young ventures that's both smaller and more mature than last year's inaugural class. February has been a busy month for Fortify. The firm, formerly known as Fortify.vc, also relocated to new offices in the same Northwest D.C. neighborhood, co-habitating with the newly formed entre­pre­neur­ship hub called 1776 . "Density is important...

In the years ahead, Steve Case expects there to be much more dice rolling in Las Vegas. Not by gamblers in the casinos, but by outside investors betting on the city's start-ups. "Some of the things that are happening in Las Vegas... are remarkable," said Case, chief executive of Washington-based Revolution LLC and chairman of Startup America . Case outlined his predictions during a media call on Monday, forecasting what he calls the imminent "Rise of...

This is what the other side of the "fiscal cliff" looks like. If President Obama and Congress fail to reach a deal to avoid hundreds of billions of dollars of tax hikes and federal spending cuts, many Americans will feel the pain with less money in their paychecks in the first week of the New Year. On Friday, Jan. 4, middle-class Americans who get paid that day would see take-home pay decline by an average of about $25, according to calculations based on data from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.