Toyota Recall: Welcome to Washington
By Gunnar Heinrich ::: img DOD
WHAT did Toyota know? And when did they know it?
Toyota’s recalls and the brouhaha that’s beset Washington seem to echo the political machinations of another era. However, instead of an irate congress fueled by the highest octane possible – populist anger – looking to oust a truculent President Nixon, it’s Toyota who congress have set their sights on.
In recent days, there have been press leaks suggesting that ToMoCo’s executive staff is feeling somewhat bruised and bewildered. Their view, apparently, is that the company’s bad reception in DC is part of a political climate that’s “not industry friendly” in the wake of the banking crisis and a lugging economy.
It seems Toyota’s execs have feared an American backlash for some time. And now, the accelerator/brake recall issue represents the sum of their fears.
Here’s the reality: Washington’s politicos are equal opportunity roasters.
In a capital where allies and enemies are exchanged, discarded, or dispatched at the turn of a news cycle, no one person or business is immune from the bloodlust of public inquiry. Couple that aspect with the frenzy of election season, and we’re in for some world class grand standing at the upcoming hearings.
Toyota’s fears of anti-Japanese, anti-globalization, pro-Motown sentiment amount to extraneous sub-plots to the day’s central story: “substantial product hazard” to use inside-the-Beltway parlance -or media fueled public backlash due to deaths resulting from many faulty cars.
We must remember that in the late 90s, such was the public’s outcry over the capsized Explorers that both Republicans and Democrats joined in a bi-partisan barbecue at the expense of both Ford and Firestone (owned by Japanese Bridgestone). Both companies were skewered relentlessly and then fined over the deaths and injuries that were linked to Explorers riding on faulty Firestone Wilderness AT tyres.
In the coming days, a lot of emphasis is going to be placed on when Toyota knew about sudden acceleration problems and what corrective steps the company took and in what time frame.
Preliminary reports suggest that Toyota may have known of faults as far back as 2001 – when the first drive-by-wire systems went to market and in subsequent years the car maker may have “negotiated” out of large recalls over the same issue.
About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
Sybarite | Feb 23, 2010 | Reply
Yes, very eloquently put, this is political theatre and grandstanding at its fullest. That being said, there is at least the perception of conflict of interest due to the US government’s majority stake in GM and partial ownership of Chrysler. Not to mention Secretary of Transportation Ray La Hood’s hyperbolic comment–later retracted–that owners should stop driving their Toyotas. And fueling this perception is last night’s jury-rigged ABC News segment claiming that they could cause a Toyota to run out of control–possibly echoing the falsified Audi 60 Minutes acceleration stunt. Already, automotive journalists from AutoWeek, Automotive News, Car & Driver, Motor Trend, Wards Auto, and others have called this a witchhunt.
But to be sure, Toyota has made mistakes, and now it seems no amount of mea culpas will suffice.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/feb2010/bw20100211_986136.htm
Jim | Feb 23, 2010 | Reply
“AutoWeek, Automotive News, Car & Driver, Motor Trend, Wards Auto, and others…”
All unimpeachable, neutral observers I’m sure. Toyota has been hung on the petard of its own documents and the deals it cut with the past administration’s NHTSA.
Remember this is a culture that once placed citizens who violated public standards in stocks on the public square, welcome to the modern version of that.
Toyota’s problem wasn’t that they experienced manufacturing and design defects, that happens. Their problems result from the attempts to cover and minimize the defects so as not to interfere with the firms march to overtake GM as the worlds largest auto manufacturer.
As far as the alleged perception of conflict of interest, do you really think Congress would act any different if the government had not saved GM and Chrysler? As Gunnar points out, Congress had no problem filleting Ford and Firestone a decade ago.
Sybarite | Feb 23, 2010 | Reply
They definitely dropped the ball on the way to becoming #1. I agree that Congress would have investigated no matter what. But I have problem with Mr. La Hood’s hyperbolic statement…maybe I forgot them telling people to stop driving all Fords. And I have issues with rigged media demos, like the faked Audi acceleration on 60 minutes, or the rigged GM truck explosion by Dateline NBC, and others.
Jim | Feb 24, 2010 | Reply
Actually they did tell owners of Explorers who had that particular Firestone tire to have them replaced, but by the time the problem came to light, Firestone had redesigned the tire and the problem tires were worn out.
No disagreement on fake news, anything for ratings and page views.
Distiller | Feb 25, 2010 | Reply
That Congress clownery will not get GM the market shares back they lost in 30 years of ignorance!