Toyota’s President, And The Car Maker, Come Under Even More Fire, Including a Criminal Probe

0 comments

Posted on 23rd February 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , ,

Toyota Motor Corp. president Aldo Toyoda will be on the hot seat Wednesday as he answers Congress’s questions about the recall of cars plagued by potentially deadly acceleration issues. Toyoda seems to be trying to make up for the ill-conceived and defensive approach he and the auto maker have taken in this public-relations debacle. But it may be too late, in many respects.

The Wall Street Journal Tuesday has a Page One story, headlined “Support Wavers At Toyota for Chief,” about how the company’s rank-and-file employees and management think Toyoda dropped the ball in his handling of the recalls.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703494404575081102279562036.html#mod=todays_us_nonsub_page_one

There are complaints about his lack of leadership during the company’s worst crisis in history. Even more shocking, some Toyota managers complained that they were not keep p to date about what the company’s actions relating to the recalls, and times first hearing about what was going on after reading it in the media.

Inside the same issue of The Journal, Toyoda had written an Op-Ed piece that really doesn’t do a very convincing job of explaining away Toyota’s too-slow handling of the brakes’ malfunction that has affected its Camry, Lexus and Prius lines.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704454304575081644051321722.html

Perhaps careful not to admit culpability, in light of the lawsuits Toyota faces from families of those killed when their cars suddenly accelerated, Toyoda’s piece was not very passionate, heart-felt or eloquent. You can read it and decide for yourself.

But that may be the least of Toyota’s woes. News broke Tuesday that a federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission had subpoenaed company documents, kicking off a criminal probe of the car maker’s attempts to deal with fatal problems with accelerator pedals, brakes and floor mats.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704454304575081363213478420.html?KEYWORDS=toyota+and+subpoena

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Toyota, After Saving $100 million by Limiting Prior Camry Recall, May Have Been Penny-Wise and Pound Foolish

0 comments

Posted on 22nd February 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , ,

Toyota, once reputed to be one of America’s most trusted auto brands, keeps digging itself deeper in trouble as more revelations come out about its bungling of its car recall. Hollywood couldn’t have scripted a bigger debacle for an auto maker. The debacle has taken many lives. Hopefully, those killed or injured during the sudden acceleration of their Camrys will ultimately get justice in courts. But if Toyota and other corporations don’t learn from these mistakes, they will just keep happening.

In the latest twist in the convoluted Toyota story, The New York Times wrote Monday that the Japanese auto maker figured it could save $100 million by getting lawmakers to agree to a limited recall for the 2007 Camry and Lexus ES cars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/business/22toyota.html?hp

That recall was for the same issue that has plagued Toyotas now, namely accelerator pedals getting stuck and cars racing out of control.

The information about the limited recall, part of a presentation, was part of the documents subpoenaed by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, according to The Times.

So far Toyota has recalled more than 8 million cars globally about the issue of accelerators getting stuck. The company has also stopped making and selling the vehicles with suspected accelerator problems.

The $100 million is savings figure was part of a confidential presentation that the president of Toyota’s North American operations, Yoshimi Inaba, made to his staff in Washington.

The car maker said it had gotten several favorable federal rulings regarding a 2007 recall of the Camry and Lexus ES 350 sedans for faulty accelerator pedals. Toyota boasted that by negotiating an equipment recall with the finding of a defect, the company saved $100 million. It also said it had delayed the imposition of federal safety rules impacting other models, saving it millions.

As it turns out, that $100 million savings may not have been such a bargain for Toyota.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney