Toyota's trust-building begins with the truth

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/04/15/1148765/toyotas-trust-building-begins.html

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: 04/15/1012:05 am

It’s bad enough that Toyota cars are the subject of a massive recall, more than 130 potential class-action lawsuits, and nearly 100 federal lawsuits claiming wrongful death and injury due to sudden acceleration.

But to paraphrase a Watergate-era maxim: It’s not the car, it’s the cover-up.

Any manufacturer can encounter the kind of mechanical problems Toyota is dealing with. What’s unforgivable is that the company apparently has gone to great lengths to hide its culpability from regulators and judges.

Federal regulators just slapped Toyota with a $16.4 million fine – the maximum possible – for failing to report problems it was aware of with accelerator pedals in some of its cars. The company waited months to alert the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, even though automakers are required to report such findings within five days.

Toyota didn’t just drag its feet in reporting problems. According to an Associated Press investigation, the Japanese automaker routinely withheld potentially damaging information it was required to produce in court cases it fought in recent years.

FULL story at link.

[TexasObserver]

1. recommend

[divideandconquer]

2. Notice Toyota often brackets any post about them with ads?

[TexasObserver]

3. I'll have to log out to see that. Next time I'm logged out, I'll check.

I'm not surprised. They've clearly decided to try to blast their way past the mess with advertising.

[BagongBansa]

4. unfair

I hope GM can make a comeback, because they know how to make really nice cars. Still, the attacks on Toyota make me nervous. The government is in a conflict-of-interest situation, holding GM, and can back Toyota into any kind of legal corner it wants to. Toyota can only keep trying to play the role of responsible corporate citizen. They can't be seen to be crying foul.