DETROIT (Profitable.com) The trouble at Toyota was chosen as the top news story of 2010 in the annual Automotive News staff poll. Here’s a recap of the staff’s choices for the year’s top 10 stories:
1) How the mighty fall: Toyota’s nightmare year
Allegations that several popular Toyota models were prone to accelerate dangerously out of control led to a string of recalls — and a year of misery for the company. Eight vehicles were temporarily pulled off the market in January, touching off a media frenzy about unintended acceleration. The result? A massive hit to the company’s sterling reputation for safety and reliability.
Initially, Toyota was accused of minimizing the problem and delaying effective repairs while people died in car crashes. Top executives, including President Akio Toyoda, testified before Congress.
2) GM floats successful IPO, sheds ‘Government Motors’ tag
Thanks to growing revenues and profits, General Motors Co. had an attractive story line for Wall Street. That created strong demand for shares in GM’s initial public offering in November. The IPO allowed the Obama administration to cast its federal bailout and majority stake in GM in 2009 as a success. More important, the IPO helped GM start shedding the stigma of Government Motors, which kept some customers away from showrooms, according to GM research.
3) Hundreds of rejected GM, Chrysler dealerships win reinstatement
More than a quarter of the 2,789 rejected General Motors and Chrysler dealerships won reinstatement after filing arbitration claims. Those dealerships were either terminated or marked for termination as part of the companies’ bankruptcy restructuring in 2009.
4) No more push: Detroit stops overproducing
One outgrowth of the industry crisis: The “push” system of building and selling vehicles is fading. Automakers are closely matching production to sales — a dramatic change for the Detroit 3. For most of the year, U.S. inventories hovered near record lows.
5) Sales bounce off bottom; industry ends year with optimism for 2011
Light-vehicle sales came off the floor in 2010 and appeared headed for about 11.5 million units by year end, a rise of 11 percent over the depths of 2009. And there is growing optimism about 2011. Most analysts expect about 12.7 million light-vehicles sales. And some say consumer creditworthiness is improving so rapidly that lenders are about to loosen credit dramatically, rocketing the market to 14 million units in 2011.
6) Profits return to Detroit — at last
Ah, the healing power of profits. There’s no substitute. So after 2009, a year from hell in which two of the Detroit 3 careened into bankruptcy, the profits posted in 2010 were welcome indeed.
7) Hyundai’s hot hand
Following its recession-defying performance in 2009, Hyundai chalked up another banner year in 2010. U.S. sales surpassed 500,000 units for the first time, and the brand continued to gain market share. The Sonata sedan and Tucson crossover were hits with consumers and critics alike, and the newly arrived $60,000 Equus sedan showed the range of the brand’s ambitions.
8 ) Here come the electrics
In 2010, the first major-brand electric vehicles inched out of the realm of prelaunch hype into marketplace reality. Within a week of each other in mid-December, Nissan delivered its first Leaf EV to a retail buyer and General Motors delivered its first Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.
9) R.I.P. Mercury
Mercury was in no-man’s land. Ford Motor Co. was trying to bring Ford brand cars and trucks upscale, into Mercury’s turf. But Ford said it did not want to move Mercury upscale to encroach on Lincoln. So the automaker killed Mercury. By year end, most dealers had settlement agreements, and inventory on dealership lots was nearly gone.
10) Outsider CEOs shake up GM
For decades, General Motors promoted company lifers to CEO, one cause of the automaker’s insular, slow-moving culture. Now GM is dealing with the opposite situation. Dan Akerson, with a background in telecommunications, is the second CEO in a row to run the largest domestic automaker with virtually zero experience in the auto industry. He succeeded Ed Whitacre, another auto neophyte, on Sept. 1, after Whitacre resigned unexpectedly.
ABOUT AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Based in Detroit, Automotive News has been the place for all the news that is happening among automotive retailers, suppliers and manufacturers since 1925. In addition to the 100% paid weekly print issue that is received by 60,000 subscribers, autonews.com is a vibrant Web site with more than four million page views monthly. It contains the day’s breaking news and features two daily newscasts and webinars. Daily and weekly e-mails and breaking news alerts keep the industry’s top executives up-to-date.
CHICAGO (Profitable.com) While spirits barely edged out beer as the most popular alcoholic beverage enjoyed by consumers between 2009-2010, the market has hardly fallen flat. According to latest research from 
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Profitable.com) McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE) today unveiled its 2011 Threat Predictions report, outlining the top threats that researchers at McAfee Labs foresee for the coming year. The list comprises 2010’s most buzzed about platforms and services, including Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone, foursquare, Google TV and the Mac OS X platform, which are all expected to become major targets for cybercriminals. McAfee Labs also predicts that politically motivated attacks will be on the rise, as more groups are expected to repeat the WikiLeaks paradigm.
The November Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS) shows that the volume of loans moving to REO continued to drop as moratoria further delayed foreclosure sales. While the 90+ delinquency category has steadily declined, the number of loans moving to seriously delinquent status beyond 90 days far outpaced the number of foreclosure starts. Nearly 2.2 million loans are 90 days or more delinquent but not yet in foreclosure.
The start of the New Year ushers in a series of new regulatory, compliance, and legislative changes that affect every small business. According to Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of 
“Where u at.” Those three words made up the last text message Mariah West read before her car crashed into a bridge, ending her life. Approaching one of the most dangerous days on the road – New Year’s Eve – AT&T* today announced the release of a powerful new documentary featuring stories from individuals, including Mariah’s parents, whose lives have been altered by texting while driving.
“We’re grateful to the millions of customers who have made the all-new Kindle the bestselling product in the history of Amazon — surpassing Harry Potter 7,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “We’re seeing that many of the people who are buying Kindles also own an LCD tablet. Customers report using their LCD tablets for games, movies, and web browsing and their Kindles for reading sessions. They report preferring Kindle for reading because it weighs less, eliminates battery anxiety with its month-long battery life, and has the advanced paper-like Pearl e-ink display that reduces eye-strain, doesn’t interfere with sleep patterns at bedtime, and works outside in direct sunlight, an important consideration especially for vacation reading. Kindle’s $139 price point is a key factor — it’s low enough that people don’t have to choose.”
Daily Steals is tapping into Mark Zuckerberg’s 550-million-user empire by promoting its daily deals online to an enthusiastic audience of rabid Facebook deal hunters. Available at 
Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version feature new Pokémon that players can catch, train and battle as they progress through the game, and some Pokémon can only be caught in one version of the game. For example, the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram™ can only be caught in Pokémon Black Version, while the Legendary Pokémon Zekrom™ can only be caught in Pokémon White Version. Additionally, the two games feature different areas for the first time in the series, with the game world of Pokémon Black Version featuring a unique metropolitan area called Black City, and a lush, green area named White Forest only found in Pokémon White Version. Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version also mark the first time in a Pokémon video game that the seasons will change in the game world. Certain Pokémon appear more frequently during different seasons, and players can only access some areas during a specific season.
Jenny Craig, Inc., one of the nation’s leading authorities on weight management, launched today its biggest program innovation in its 27-year history of weight management: the new Metabolic Max Program. In this new program innovation, Jenny Craig is taking an intensive approach to monitor and increase activity by accurately measuring calories burned to help clients achieve meaningful weight loss.
Just as surely as Christmas arrives on December 25th, thousands of customers will be rushing to supermarkets on December 24th to complete their holiday preparations. So what items are most in demand by these last-minute shoppers?
Most of the media coverage of the 2010 Census will likely focus on the country’s changing racial composition and the redistribution of seats in Congress. But neither of these is the most important finding. Rather, it is the dramatic increase in the size of the U.S. population itself that has profound implications for our nation’s quality of life and environment. Most of the increase has been, and will continue to be, a result of one federal policy: immigration. Projections into the future from the Census Bureau show we are on track to add 130 million more people to the U.S. population in the just the next 40 years, primarily due to future immigration. This press release can also be found online at: 
When it comes to their jobs, one-quarter of Americans are most thankful for job stability this holiday season, according to data released today in a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Heald College. The survey asked employed Americans to identify what they were most grateful for in their work life – other than pay.
In a move that is expected to help businesses grow — especially small businesses who currently don’t use the mail because they can’t afford it — and garner millions of dollars in new revenue for the U.S. Postal Service, the agency announced today that it is easing the rules on simplified addressing to allow businesses to begin using the format on city delivery routes.
Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Call of Duty: Black Ops continues to set sell-through records crossing the $1 billion mark in sales worldwide since its launch in November, according to internal Activision estimates. 
With its iconic rear-wheel drive proportions, elegantly sculptured bodyside, world-class craftsmanship and refinement, the all-new 2011 Chrysler 300 series proudly delivers the distinction, innovation and premium large sedan features at a legendary value, while setting a new course for the American brand.
PandaLabs, Panda Security’s anti-malware laboratory, is closing the year with a look at some of the unique and noteworthy viruses that have appeared over the last twelve months. The list of viruses is vast and varied, since in 2010, PandaLabs received more than 20 million new strains of malware.
Credit card issuers are working harder than ever to retain existing customers and attract new ones. According to 
Gift cards continue to top gift wish lists this holiday season with 57 percent of people asking for them, according to a recent study by National Retail Federation. While the wish is the same, the method for giving has shifted. Mobile and social media gifting has never been more popular and 2010 is poised to be the first digital holiday season with mobile purchasing, delivery and in-store redemption expected to ease holiday shopping for nearly half of holiday revelers. In fact, 45 percent of young adults 18-24 are planning to use their iPhones, Android devices and other smartphones to look for gift ideas, compare prices, find items in nearby stores and share their gifting experiences with their Facebook friends. We even saw Cyber Monday sales that were reportedly higher than Black Friday, furthering the digital holiday trend.
PriceGrabber, a part of Experian, just released the results of its last minute holiday shopping survey. This survey includes responses from 4,000 online consumers collected between Oct. 4 and Dec. 7, 2010. Despite the consumer trend to start holiday shopping earlier this year, survey data reveals many consumers plan to do last minute shopping. Deals and busy schedules are the most popular motivators for shopping at the end of the season and these purchases include both big and small ticket items.
Overstock.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK) has set its order cut-off times for select products with guaranteed Christmas delivery. To receive items before Christmas, customers must place orders on products identified by a holiday icon by the following cut-off dates: 
Merriam-Webster Inc., America’s leading language reference publisher, has announced the Top Ten Words of the Year for 2010. This profile of America’s mood and interests is determined by the volume of user lookups at Merriam-Webster.com in response to current events and conditions.
Walmart announces it’s not too late to save on great last-minute gifts, including most-desired gift cards. According to a recent poll(1), Walmart ranks as the number one preferred Gift Card consumers would like to see in their stockings this year. In addition, a recent survey of a panel of Walmart Moms(2) found that approximately 77 percent still have gifts left to purchase this holiday season.
Last-minute shoppers are getting a lot of help from discounter Dollar General (NYSE:DG), as it extends its bargains and its hours leading up to Christmas Eve.
Everyone likes something free. Beginning February 1, 2011, Marriott Rewards is giving away free nights with its popular MegaBonus promotion. Marriott Rewards members will earn one free night for every two paid stays* they make through April 30, 2011, up to two free nights. 