Posted on 03/10/2010 6:40:52 AM PST by laotzu
The head of the Toyota National Dealer Council today blasted the federal government for using 'taxpayer dollars' to fund incentive campaigns to lure customers away from Toyota, and accused GM of using ‘fear’ in an attempt to lure away its customers, 1200 WOAI news reports.
"As an American citizen, it is tough on my part to pay tax dollars to an entity that can turn around and use those tax dollars to get my fellow American citizens to not do business with me," Paul Atkinson, who owns Atkinson Toyota in Bryan Texas, and is President of the dealer council, tells 1200 WOAI news.
Atkinson says when General Motors was going through bankruptcy last Spring, Toyota behaved in a 'compassionate way,' and did not use GM's uncertain future as a 'lever to steal its customers.' But he says now that GM has been strengthened with taxpayer money, it is using 'low blow tactics' to hurt his business.
"The government owns 60% of General Motors, and these American tax dollars are funding business activity for one company, with the express goal of negatively impacting another company," Atkinson said today.
Atkinson specifically cited GM dealer mailings which he says have been targeted at existing Toyota owners. He called it ‘a nationwide predatory advertising campaign that uses fear in an attempt to lure customers away from Toyota and Lexus dealers.’
"There are some mailing lists which have been given to dealers, and there have been some mailers, in fact, I've seen several of them," he said. "On the outside of the envelope it says 'important Toyota recall information enclosed.' But when you open up that envelope, it is nothing more than an advertisement trying to get you to come trade your Toyota in at a GM store."
Atkinson calls those 'predatory incentives,' which he says should not be allowed to be employed by a company which is majority owned by US taxpayers against another company which employs hundreds of thousands of Americans.
"We will be sending letters out to Senators and Congressmen, as well as (Transportation) Secretary (Ray) LaHood," Atkinson said. "It's really unfair that American citizens have to fund this."
Atkinson also suggested that the recent Congressional hearings and federal government concern over Toyota's accelerator problems may have been sparked less by a desire to protect the public, and more by a desire to protect the federal government's investment in GM.
"There is a list of twenty manufacturers on these recall lists, and Toyota is number 17," he said. "If we're having hearings on number 17, what are they doing about numbers 1 through 16?"
Atkinson said business at Toyota dealerships was down 10% in January and down 8% in February, but the dealerships are standing behind Toyota products.
"Despite all of this, we outsold all of the other manufacturers in February except for one," he said. "Let's get these numbers in perspective. Sure, our sales are down, but we are outselling a lot of other brands."
The Fusion would never had been that good without foreign competition.
You made a great choice. Toyota are light years ahead of their dee-troit sisters in the quality, reliability, and longevity of their products.
Barack Obama and his team are working overtime to get people in this country fighting. Toyota vs GM. Bank vs Bank. Wall Street vs The Little Guy. Mortgagor vs Mortgagee. Unions vs Non-Unions. Tea Party vs Lefties.
Lots of distractions going on. Sow the seeds of strife and disorder than fundamentally change America as we know it. They are slicker than the Clintons.
Sweeeeet! Somebody is looking cool and sexy in that truck. That looks like its more for fun than haulin’ things. ;-)
Piling on? Yes, Toyota should be exhempt from piling on, please any company that screws up this badly has to deal with the consequences. They knew about these issues, denied and lied about them, and others for YEARS trying to keep their vaulted “quality” perception. Now the PR created bubble has burst, and they have to pay the price for it.
Griping about “piling on” is silliness to the nth degree. GM had to deal with this sort of thing in its past, as has Ford and every other auto maker, they’ve all put products out they knew were sub par and covered it up, now that Toyota’s the one caught doing it, they should get some sort of pass? Please.
“”As an American citizen, it is tough on my part to pay tax dollars to an entity that can turn around and use those tax dollars to get my fellow American citizens to not do business with me,” Paul Atkinson, who owns Atkinson Toyota in Bryan Texas, and is President of the dealer council, tells 1200 WOAI news. “
“As an American citizen, it is tough on my part to pay tax dollars to an entity that can turn around and use those tax dollars to get my fellow American citizens to not do business with me,” - Any Tobacco exec, Insurance exec. Banking exec or importer / exporter, fast food chain owner, gun-owner, gun shop owner, gunsmith, gas station owner, oil exec, etc....
Yes. The government works against some business. It’s not fair, but it’s not new. As a person in power, I would like to see you (and others) sit down and do something about it.
I’m subject to several penalty careers from the government myself. Although not on a big scale (It’s not like it costs me thousands anymore) I still have come up with a plan to make the impact of an over-bearing government as slight as possible. I buy my cigarettes as cheap as possible, patronize oil companies that I like, and avoid chinese products as much as possible.
The car debate will be heated for years to come, as it has been for years before. Quality, patriotism, blah blah blah. Who makes a superior product ? No one. They are all subject to a handful of handicaps that prevent them from making a good product.
Gun manufacturers should build a car. Give it weaponised quality control, precise engineering, and watch how the best car out there, for both quality and patriotism, costs the buyer well over $200,000. And don’t forget to not finance it either. Start playing lotto - because it’s the only perfect scheme to making and spending money anymore.
Don't tell ‘em that many Toyotas are made here...
If this keeps up, one of GM's competitors *will* start playing up the "Government Motors" theme, probably with "Close Enough For Government Work" or "Parts Manufactured By The Lowest Bidder" advertising campaigns.
On a related note, I haven't seen any of the Kia TV ads with the Obama lookalike recently. Gee, I wonder why?
So you have absolutely no problem with the US government bullying a private business? And apparently don’t care that Toyota never used the power of the government to steer customers its way? They used QUALITY and RELIABILITY and word of mouth to earn their customers. Not some halfrican and his pack of mutts in congress.
That's business.
Yep, and Ford owns a big chunk of Mazda as well... this has been the case since the 1980s, when the Mazda MX-6 and Ford Probe were a joint project. Currently, there are several other Ford-Mazda "collaborations". The Ford Fusion/Mecury Milan/Lincoln MK-Z/Mazda 6 and the Ford Edge/Lincoln MK-X/Mazda CX-7 are two such examples. Mazda-branded SUVs and pickups are Ford Escapes and Rangers.
A couple of weeks ago, someone ran the numbers- with the number of accidents due to the stuck accelerator versus the number for a similar problem with a GM. It was something like .001% of the recalled Toyota vehicles actually had the accident versus the GM problem had a .1% problem- 1000% higher- yet, the GM issue never made the news. (those numbers are from memory, don’t quote me on it).
The US GOVERNMENT bullying???? Really... hmm...so you have a product on the road that has killed people due to a flaw you knew about about covered up.... and are being investigated for this, and its bullying??
You and I have very different definitions of bullying.
I’ve already said GM should have never gotten a thin dime, but this attempt to spin Toyota as the victim is such a leftist denial of reality that you’d be better off posting on DU with that conspiracy crap.
Toyota made the bed they are in now with years of bad behavior, now that the bubbles popped they are somehow the victim? I don’t think so.
For some reason this latest story on the ‘runaway Prius’ doesn’t pass the smell test. Anyone else feel the same?
Doesn’t Mazda own a major stake in Ford?
I was thinking that this morning as well. I wanted to look up the guy’s name and do some digging. It just seemed to convenient.
Amen.
When patients are demanding operations when they could "just take a pill", and doctors are "hacking off peoples feet just for the money", and insurance companies are "greedy & evil"; that pretty much only leaves Barak as the one we can trust. He brings us all together.
I guess we do. How many deaths over the years attributed to flaws with Toyota products versus those from GM? And now the US government, through congressional dog-n-pony shows are bullying the #1 carmaker in the world? When are the hearings for all of the other automakers who've posted current safety recalls? By and large, GM make crap products and can never, ever compete with Toyota in a level market.
Oh please,
Toyota’s vaulted “quality” has been a sham for more than a few years now, they have engaged in concerted efforts to cover up known failings in their products for quite some time. Issues that would have been recalls for anyone else, they swept under the rug. Now its bit them in the arse and they are paying the price for it.
Stop trying to spin Toyota as the victim here, its childish, inaccurate and foolish.
Toyota is not the first company to do this, they won’t be the last, but now that they have been caught they shouldn’t have to pay the same price that every other company has paid for when its done the same thing is crazy.
Toyota is no victim here and there are real victims for their malfeasance, and some of them are 6 feet under.
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