Camry

Perhaps the most surprising recent news in the auto industry last week was this little gem. In large part owing to President Obama's negotiation of a free trade agreement with South Korea earlier this year, Toyota will be expanding exports of U.S.-built vehicles to Korea for sale.

The carmaker hoped findings from two federal studies would put to rest speculation about its electronics system as a source for unintended acceleration. But the results may not prove enough to give Toyota a leg up in its ongoing legal battles.

The Japanese automaker's bottom line is likely to have been hit by its many safety recalls, weaker U.S. sales and Japan's rising currency. Analysts forecast Toyota will report a quarterly profit of about $1 billion on sales of $56.2 billion.

Toyota managed to hold onto the title of world's No. 1 automaker last year, despite numerous safety recalls that took a toll on its sales. Toyota sold 8.42 million vehicles worldwide in 2010, enough to barely edge out resurgent General Motors, which rang up sales of 8.39 million.

Taking the name of VW's existing midsize entry, the new Passat is more than just a fresh design. The vehicle brings with it a commitment by the German automaker to resume building cars in the U.S. for the first time in decades, at its new $1 billion in Tennessee.

When Toyota Motor reports quarterly earnings tomorrow it will give investors the latest snapshot of how big a toll massive recalls and tepid auto sales are taking on the company's bottom line.

Toyota may have repaired most of the cars it recalled for unintended acceleration problems, but it hasn't repaired its stock price, and U.S. shareholders have filed a class-action lawsuit against the automaker for failing to disclose what it knew about the defects.

Toyota says complaints by its cars' unintended acceleration have dropped 80% compared to April, , as the world's largest automaker continues to make strides in repairing the nearly 8 million vehicles recalled in the U.S. to over sticky gas pedals and accelerators that get hung up on floor mats.

Toyota has asked a federal judge to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits over problems with unintended acceleration in its vehicles. The world's largest automaker says such complaints are based on anecdotes, and fail to identify specific defects.

A House committee continues to press Toyota about what it knew when regarding unintended acceleration in its vehicles. Lawmakers now suspect Toyota of being less than forthcoming about the "new" brake-override feature it's installing.