Posted by Laura Glendinning in News and Analysis, Opinion on February 5, 2010
LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) - The news about Toyota’s safety problems has been inescapable for the past few days. US Transportation Secretary Roy Lahood even went so far, in a House hearing, to go nuclear and warn Toyota owners to stop driving their cars and take them straight to the dealership. He had to retract that alarmist advice giving the tiny percentage of cars which actually had the defect, but the damage was done if you own and run Toyota, or sell their cars. Panicked owners swamped dealerships. The mega-popular Camry and Prius lines’ sales are being heavily impacted by the accelerator and brake pedal recalls.
Katsuaki Watanabe, President of Toyota
Not to mount a knee-jerk defense of car companies, but it’s fair to question motive when the government which investigates and publicizes car defects is now in the car business itself with General Motors. The Democrat-controlled Congress has various consumer oversight committees which may be taking a harder-than-normal look at independent companies like Toyota. House Democrats Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak, for example, requested a document from the head of Toyota which would show that problems which have already led to a massive recall of Toyota vehicles had nothing to do with the computer systems on board the cars, bringing up a new potential area of concern for owners. In court, that’s called “ringing the bell” for a jury. Raise an issue which could be completely fabricated, but put a nagging idea in a juror’s mind which will help your case and hurt the other guy’s.
In the car business, ongoing safety questions can put you out of business faster than any pulled bank loan or lag in the parts supply chain. And, for what it’s worth, a look at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website reveals a majority of press releases about parts issues and recalls on Toyota and another government-free company, Ford.
Hmmm.