Toyota Motor Corp. says it is broadening a U.S. recall of 110,000 Tundra fullsize pickup trucks from model years 2000-2003 to replace rusted rear cross members. The original campaign, launched in November and covering vehicles in 20 cold-weather states, will now encompass all 50 states.

The company did not estimate how many additional vehicles would be affected, but industry experts suggest the number of vehicles could quadruple. Toyota is calling the latest action a “special service campaign.”

Road salt can corrode the cross member and allow the spare tire stowed under the truck bed to fall off, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It says corrosion also can damage the rear brake lines, thus diminishing braking capability.

In a letter to dealers, Toyota now says that in some cases the fuel tank also could drop to the ground and cause a crash, fire or both, Reuters reports. The news service says the company also tells dealers that in some cases the corrosion may be so widespread the vehicle cannot be repaired.

Toyota asks owners to remove the spare tire until the problem is remedied. Dealers will replace corroded components and spray an anti-rust compound on undamaged cross members. Toyota says it will reimburse car rental fees for up to 60 days whenever a lack of parts makes immediate repairs impossible.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s global recall of 8.5 million vehicles worldwide could cost the company more than $5 billion in lost sales, recall repairs, litigation and increased incentive spending, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cites analysts’ estimates.

One J.P. Morgan analyst estimates the company will spend $4.4 billion on recall costs and $1.1 million on legal expenses, the Journal says.

Toyota said last month that two major recalls to fix loose floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals could cost about 175 billion yen ($1.9 billion) during the fiscal year ending March 31. That figure includes lost sales of about 100,000 units in Europe and North America.

Analysts also say the financial impact of the recalls will continue into the next fiscal year. They calculate that Toyota’s U.S. incentive costs could increase to $2,500 per vehicle in the April-September period from $1,450 in the fiscal year about to end. Analysts note that Toyota, which has $29 billion of cash, low debt and a strong credit rating, is well equipped to handle the costs.

Growth in demand for passenger and commercial vehicles in China, which soared 126% in January, slowed to a mere 46% and 1.2 million units last month, according to the China Assn. of Automobile Manufacturers.

Passenger vehicle demand, which surged 116% in January, increased 55% in February to 942,900 units. Analysts say the timing of the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in February this year and January in 2009, skewed comparisons. Demand for vehicles made by the Chinese joint ventures of General Motors and Ford jumped 51% to 174,300 units and 38% to 18,200 units, respectively.

Full-year vehicle sales in China increased 46% last year to 13.6 million units. CAAM expects growth to moderate to 15% this year as the government reduces scrappage incentives and tax breaks for car buyers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is flying two investigators to California to study an incident on Monday in which a 2008 Prius hybrid sedan sped as fast as 94 miles per hour for 20 minutes on an interstate freeway near San Diego. Toyota Motor Corp. also is investigating the report.

The driver, James Sikes, says he accelerated to pass another car and the throttle pedal became stuck. He says the car continued to speed up even though he stepped on the brakes.

Sikes called 911 and a highway patrol car pulled alongside. The officer instructed him to also apply the parking brake, shift into neutral and turn off the ignition, which eventually stopped the car. Sikes was uninjured. The police officer says the Prius’ brake lights were illuminated and he smelled the brakes. Network news reports and replays of Sikes’ 911 call on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet have magnified the incident’s prominence.

The incident occurred only hours after Toyota demonstrated to reporters that an alleged fault in its electronic throttle control could be contrived only in a laboratory and was not an unintended acceleration risk.

Priuses from model years 2004-2009 are part of a U.S. recall of 5.4 million Toyota vehicles to fix loose floor mats that can jam the accelerator pedal. But the company says it hasn’t begun repairing the Priuses because it is still working on a remedy. Sikes says he made sure the mat wasn’t interfering with the pedal during Monday’s incident, an assertion corroborated by the highway patrol.

Attorneys have filed 89 lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. on behalf of owners who say the resale value of their vehicles dropped as a result of the company’s recent recalls, reports the Associated Press.

AP says the lawsuits, which seek class action status, allege Toyota concealed the safety problems from owners. The claimants cite Kelley Blue Book’s decision this month to lower the average resale value of the recalled Toyota vehicles by 3.5%, or $300-$750 per vehicle.

On March 25, a panel of federal judges in San Diego, Calif., will consider whether to consolidate those cases into a single jurisdiction. Such a decision would be the precursor to a decision about whether to certify a class-action lawsuit.

AP estimates that the lawsuit would cost Toyota as much as $3 billion if all owners were awarded $500. But analysts doubt the result will be anywhere near that costly. They cite Ford Motor Co.’s settlement of a similar class-action lawsuit two years ago that involved 1 million Explorer SUV owners.

Plaintiffs in the Ford case said the value of their trucks fell because the vehicles’ Firestone tires were recalled. Ford settled the case by awarding the group a $300-$500 voucher toward the purchase of a new Ford vehicle. Analysts said many plaintiffs would not use the vouchers and those who did would bolster Ford sales for the equivalent of a small incentive.

Toyota faces other lawsuits related to the recalls. Several claim wrongful death and injury related to accidents involving the company’s vehicles. Lawyers also have filed lawsuits claiming that Toyota shareholders deserve compensation for share value lost after the recalls were announced.

Ford Motor Co. has launched the $7,700 Figo compact, its first small car designed specifically for India’s market.

Tiny, low-cost cars comprise three-quarters of India’s car market. The Figo, which is less than 13 feet long, was designed for durability with easily replaceable parts. More upscale versions of the Figo are equipped with keyless entry and Bluetooth connectivity.

Automakers sold 91,900 passenger and light commercial vehicles in Russia last month compared with 134,900 a year earlier, according to the Assn. of European Businesses.

Nine of last month’s 10 best-selling passenger vehicles there were produced in Russia, and half of them were Ladas. Renault’s no-frills Logan sedan and Ford’s Focus compact sedan ranked third and fifth, respectively. General Motors’ Chevrolet Niva SUV and Lacetti compact and Daewoo Nexia sedan captured eighth through 10th place.

Among brands, Lada remains the top seller, followed in order by Hyundai, Chevrolet, Kia, Renault and Ford. Kia, up 21% year over year, posted the only gain among major carmakers. Sales for GM and Ford brands fell 45% and 56%, respectively.

Light vehicle sales in Russia, which plunged 49% last year to 1.47 million units, are down 34% in the first two months of 2010, compared to a particularly weak year-earlier period. AEB has forecast that this year’s sales will be even with 2009.

The trade group says automakers are counting on a government scrappage program that began on Monday to boost sales, although some dealers worry that bureaucracy and corruption could dilute the impact. Analysts say the program, which offers $1,600 to buyers who turn in a car that is at least 10 years old, is geared to low-income car buyers. For that reason, they say it is likely to mainly benefit Lada maker OAO AvtoVAZ, the country’s largest automaker.

Daimler AG has confirmed that it sold its 5.3% stake in India’s Tata Motors Ltd. for €300 million ($408 million).

Daimler says it can now expand its sales of passenger and commercial vehicles in India on its own. The company says the truck plant it plans to open in Chennai in 2012 will make light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that will compete with Tata in India under an undisclosed new brand name. Daimler also opened a new plant in Pune last year to build Mercedes-Benz E- and S-Class models.

Daimler says the sale of its Tata shares will boost to its earnings before interest and taxes in the first quarter of this year by €265 million ($361 million). An analyst tells Bloomberg News the increase will offset more than half of the charge Daimler will take in the quarter from its 15% holding in European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Co. Daimler said last week it would suffer a “material negative effect” because of cost overruns at the airplane maker.

It will be a very different SAE World Congress this year. Working with major carmakers and top suppliers over the past year, SAE International has developed a significantly more focused event. Its mission is clear: to deliver more value than ever to engineers and executives alike.

SAE World Congresses have always been the auto industry’s premier technology and networking event, and this year will be no different. But attendees at the SAE 2010 World Congress will discover a polished event that is shorter, more focused and more relevant to today’s pressing industry challenges.

This year’s World Congress chairman is Paul Mascarenas, vice president of engineering, Global Product Development, at Ford Motor Co. He outlines the objectives for this year’s event. Bob Fascetti, director of Large Gas & Diesel Engine Engineering with Ford Powertrain Product Development, notes the value of the World Congress from the engineer’s perspective.

What are the most exciting features planned this year at SAE World Congress?

Mascarenas: We want to make sure we have a very high-quality event that generates a lot of value for the participants. We organized it around three central elements—quality, collaboration and sustainability—that are embodied in this year’s theme, Ecollaboration.

Above all, we want to showcase the industry’s leading-edge technologies and illustrate how those technologies can support sustainability. We also want to emphasize the value for greater collaboration between the industry, the academic world and other stakeholders. Finally, we want to accomplish these goals while recognizing the very different economic environment we face today.

This year’s Congress will be shorter and more focused. There are fewer but more relevant exhibitors. Everything about the heart of the event—the technical papers, panels and speeches—will be more focused this year.

Who benefits from attending the SAE World Congress?

Mascarenas: The engineer is the primary target group. But the industry’s technical leadership and the corporate interests that make the industry possible are critical too. We wanted to create value at all levels.

For engineers, that means technical papers, technical sessions and exhibits. Then there’s the networking and ability to meet with the leadership among suppliers, especially for overseas-based companies. Next are the panel discussions, which target leadership issues and initiatives. We’ll have a supplier panel this year for the first time that will help OEMs and tier one suppliers connect on commercial and business issues. Finally, from the corporate level, we want to give companies exposure to promote themselves through technical papers and exhibits, and also to provide value to their employees.

Why should engineers attend?

Fascetti: It’s very worthwhile being able to interface with your colleagues and exchange ideas. We’re an industry first, and the Congress is the biggest opportunity all year to reinforce that fact. It’s also an excellent chance for engineers to evaluate new technologies from companies they haven’t worked with before.

Especially for young engineers, World Congress is a great place to guide your career. Certainly you can learn more about your own area of expertise, and that can be challenging because technology is moving so fast. But you also can attend technical sessions outside your current interests to see what other areas of engineering might be exciting to you.

You just can’t get the amount of data anywhere else. We make it our business to attend. We’ll try to go as a team and compare notes.

How has attending the SAE World Congress benefited you personally?

Mascarenas: I relocated from England, where I was very involved with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Their conferences are very useful, but most of them are regional in nature. What’s nice about the SAE World Congress is it pulls everyone together. For me, it’s a personal networking opportunity to meet colleagues from other suppliers and car companies.

Fascetti: It’s the major technical event of the year. The biggest thing for me is the ability to meet with lots of suppliers all in one place. It’s almost one-stop shopping for supplier contacts.

To learn more about the SAE 2010 World Congress, please click HERE or visit www.sae.org/congress.