U.S. Widens Toyota Probe to Electronics

[Miss Mia]

I've been following this Toyota recall closely.  When Toyota announced that it was an issue with the floor mats I knew that was bullsh*t.  I wouldn't be surprised if this is a compounded problem of both mechanical and electrical means.  Too bad this took the death of a California highway patrol officer and family to get the ball rolling on a fix.  I'm glad I don't have a Toyota and I'm glad I don't work at a dealer either.  This is going to cost them out the ass to fix all of this.  

U.S. Widens Toyota Probe to Electronics

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday his agency is widening its probe of sudden acceleration complaints in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles to look at the possibility of electromagnetic interference with electronic throttle systems, and said he wants to talk directly with company Chief Executive Akio Toyoda.

Mr. LaHood briefly caused a flurry in financial markets and at Toyota dealerships when he said during a congressional hearing that owners of six million Toyota and Lexus vehicles recalled to fix suspected throttle problems should stop driving the cars. Mr. LaHood quickly retracted the remark, calling it a misstatement and said he meant only to encourage Toyota owners to get their cars fixed quickly.

Separately, Japan's transport ministry and U.S. highway safety officials said they are investigating complaints about problems with brakes in Toyota's Prius hybrid model.

The Prius reports, and aggressive criticism of Toyota in Washington on Wednesday, battered Toyota's shares in heavy trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The damage spread to some of Toyota's key suppliers, as investors appeared to worry about longer-term harm to the sales of the auto maker and its tight corporate network.

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[Miss Mia]

And the hits keep coming for Toyota.  As more bad news comes out for Toyota the heads of GM, Chrysler and Ford have got to be rejoicing.

Prius Brake Inquiry May Be Another Blow for Toyota

NAGOYA, Japan — The Prius, a centerpiece of Japan’s cutting-edge technology, fell victim to Toyota’s widening quality crisis on Wednesday after Japanese authorities told the automaker to investigate reports of faulty brakes on the gas-electric hybrid.

Slow-moving brakes on the car may have led to a collision last July, just months after the third-generation Prius went on sale in Japan, the country’s Transport Ministry warned Wednesday. At least 77 more cases of possible brake malfunctions have been reported in Japan since the newest model went on sale in May.

The company had not yet decided about a recall, but a spokeswoman, Ririko Takeuchi, said a defect with the brakes could not be ruled out.

Concerns over the Prius’s safety threatens to undermine Toyota’s reputation even in its home market, where confidence in the carmaker has appeared watertight despite a worldwide recall of other models because of sticky gas pedals and unintended acceleration.

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[jafo2010]

Of course, the fact that General Motors in now Government Motors has nothing to do with a government leader coming out and bad mouthing the largest car company in the world.  Naw.

One more element of disgrace for the Obama Administration is the disfranchising of bond and stock holders and turning ownership of the company over to the unions.  The unions have done what I would like to know to be entitled to such largess?  Nothing. 

Mr. Obama has woven himself into a corner, and there is no crawling out.  He has alienated his own party members from his platform that reeks of Stalinistic approaches to producing results.  That works when you can line up the opposition and kill them as Stalin did, but is very problematic without that totalitarian control.

[Miss Mia]

If they were going to attack the world's largest car company they'd be going after Volkswagen/Porsche. 

This has nothing to do with GM or unions, it's about Toyota and their problems. 

[jafo2010]

Volkswagon only just recently acquired that honor, which has rested with Toyota for some time.  Their being number one will be short lived.

You can bet however that at no time in the future will GM return to that position with the government meddling in the management of the company.  I anticipate the remaining two companies of GM and Ford will go by the wayside fast enough, and America will not longer have a company that produces cars.

[Miss Mia]

Toyota only held the title for a year, not really a long time.  Volkswagen was already slated to overtake Toyota, it just happened faster than people though.  Volkswagen is a dominating automaker, and the fact that Toyota can't even sell vehicles now will definitely keep VW in the top spot.  VW is also pushing much harder into China than Toyota is.

Ford is doing just fine.  They have excellent quality and are producing great cars.  GM will only strengthen as Toyota is crumbling.  GM is selling more and more vehicles, they've cut back on their overhead (number of dealers, plants, workers) and are actually bringing people back to keep up with demand.  It will take years and years for Toyota to overcome this debacle.  And you do realize that Toyota's had to ask for bailout money from Japan right?