Posted on 02/05/2010 7:13:18 AM PST by Chi-townChief
TOKYO – Toyota's president apologized Friday for the massive global recalls over sticking gas pedals as the automaker scrambles to repair a damaged reputation and sliding sales.
But Akio Toyoda, appointed to the top job at Toyota Motor Corp. last June, said the company is still deciding what steps to take to fix brake problems in the popular Prius gas-electric hybrid.
Speaking at a hastily announced news conference that lasted an hour, a stern-looking Toyoda promised to beef up quality control.
"We are facing a crisis," he said, publicly confronting the automaker's safety problems for the first time since the global recalls were announced Jan. 21.
He said the company is setting up a special committee he would head himself.
It would review internal checks, go over consumer complaints and listen to outside experts to come up with a solution to the widening quality problems.
"I offer my apologies for the worries," he said. "Many customers are wondering whether their cars are OK."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
As much as I’d like to join in on beating up Toyota, I have to admit, this whole affair sort of smells like an Obama-administration set up. Toyota is a primary competitor to Government Motors, and if Obama can use the government to knock down Toyota a notch and get people to buy more GM products so that state ownership doesn’t look like the failure that it is, then he’ll do it.
Whatever this is, I made sure my high school students knew what to do with floor mats and how to handle stuck accelerators.
Toyota has to correct this problem. But Washington never made a Federal Case out of this kind of issue in the past.
I have had Toyotas since 1976, after a series of VERY unpleasant experiences with American cars and have never been disappointed with them.
Obama is playing politics with problems (remember that bastard Rahm Emmanuel's comment about never letting a problem go by unexploited).
Look what the Union members at GM produced in the past! (In caps)
“...ANOTHER 200,000 CARS ARE BEING RECALLED TO FIX AN ACCELERATOR STICKING PROBLEM...”
“General Motors Recalls 1.5 Million Vehicles”
November 5, 2004
General Motors is recalling nearly 1.5 million vehicles, including 1 million SUVs, in North America to fix tail lights that could loosen and flicker. ANOTHER 200,000 CARS ARE BEING RECALLED TO FIX AN ACCELERATOR STICKING PROBLEM.
The recall of nearly 1 million SUVs includes the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, TrailBlazer EXT, GMC Envoy XL and Oldsmobile from the 2002 to 2004 model years and the 2004 Buick Rainier. Vibration and heat can cause the rear lights to stop working, the company said.
Mid-sized cars with the sticky accelerator include the Chevrolet Malibu, Oldsmobile Alero and Pontiac Grand Am from the 2003 model year. Dealers will inspect, and if necessary will replace the accelerator and brake pedal assembly, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A third recall includes the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire small cars for faulty rear brake and turn signals that could fail due to inadequate contact between the bulb and socket. Dealers will inspect the light sockets and fix the problem by applying grease or replacing the assembly if necessary, the NHTSA said.
GM said it knows of five crashes that could be due to faulty rear lights on the SUVs and the small cars.
Finally, GM recalled a total of 5,914 of its 2004 to 2005 Cadillac XLR and 2005 Chevrolet Corvette sports cars to fix a brake line that could leak.
GM has recalled a total of 10.47 million vehicles in North America this year through the end of October, above the total of 7.8 million for all of 2003.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/gm_recalls.html
My 1997 Camry was still going strong with 200K+ miles when I totalled it (doesn’t take much to total a 17-yr-old Camry). My 2002 Land Cruiser has 150K miles and I expect to top 300K. I’ll continue buying Toyotas, thanks - and you’ll never see me in a Gummint Motors or Chrysler showroom again.
If they discover the fault is electronics, the party will be over. First it was floor mats then it was a mechanical gas pedal part. The throttle function, as I have read, on these things are controlled by electronics (drive by wire) so it may not be over yet.
1997=1987. Merde.
What a smart move on the part of Toyota. Get ahead of the storm(just like the democrats do)and minimize the firestorm. Toyota builds a great product and has a solid reputation. This current attack on them would stop if they allowed unions to take over
I really believe that the problem lies in the PCM. Some of the RAV4’s (or more)had a failure to respond to the throttle problem and my guess is that these are related to the acceleration problem.
Toyota and the other Jap manufacturers used to be able to isolate their problems to their island but as demand grew, they began shipping product of a lesser quality overseas.
I wish Toyota and the other Jap automakers would market to me - then I might be interested.
But don't blame me, I drive a Hyundai, built right here in the USA.
Korean products = no way.
“As much as I’d like to join in on beating up Toyota, I have to admit, this whole affair sort of smells like an Obama-administration set up”
I agree.
The sooner we get rid of this Kenyan bastard the world will be better off.
Soros has to go too.
By the way, talking about Soros, sometime ago here on FR in the past few months, I read where one of Soros’ sons is on the board of directors at Google; hence, this shady stuff with the Feds.
Seppeku with a rusty nail?
Ashamed, he even changed his name from Akio Toyota!
Be fair. If you lump this in with all the Chinese recalls, it’s only right to say Asian = ain’t no way.
*reminder: toothpaste, toys, dogfood, etc...
It’s a pandemic???
You need to look the word up.
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