And this is not a "conspiracy" theory? C'mon people- the world is not out to get Toyota. They messed up (for years) and were, in true Japanese fashion 'sweeping under the rug' many of these shortcomings- for years.
Just like the financial situation of this country, it finally caught up with them. And for those of you that quote the 'drinking of the media kool-aid'- i guess you should also stop drinking the 'Toyota Kool-aid'.
They have quality problems . major ones. This is no conspiracy. They will solve them, no doubt but hopefully this opens the public's eyes to the fact that while they are extremely good at quality; they are NOT perfect. Not even close. Welcome to the real world in the automotive industry.
fire away.:coffeedrink:
You almost make it sound like no other manufacturer has any issues, which is furthest from the truth. They ALL have issues and NONE of them are forth coming with them until they absolutely have to. I served my automotive career sentence in Detroit for 6 years before moving to a field position and have college alumni, previous work colleagues, and contacts at pretty much all manufacturers and suppliers. We all talk and the one thing we all have in common are problems.
I don’t necessarily think there is a conspiracy going on, but I do find it odd that the NHTSA and the media is being so hard on Toyota especially after the US bailouts (when US cars have major issues too), Japanese cash for clunkers program ordeal, and even one state rep came right out and said during the hearings that he was not happy Toyota was doing business in Iran. This sounds a lot more like a politic driven firestorm than automotive safety to me. If Toyota’s name being drug through the mud wasn’t a planned attack then NHTSA (specifically loud mouthed Ray LaHood) should have thought it through a little more. As he said many times over the course of the hearings….. “Perception is reality”. And the perception is the government is giving the home town players a break while beating the tar out of Toyota.
On the other hand, I can also see how Ray LaHood at NHTSA could say Toyota was a little safety deaf. Toyota has grown quickly in the US in the past 30 years and may have gotten a little bit cocky basking in the glory of their nice new found chunk of the US market share. That is the same over confident corporate culture that help GM fall from 50% market share to less than 10%. Ford has been there too.
In fact, any minute now I suspect a great deal of recalls to be coming out of Ford. It seems the country has this odd pride in Ford Motor Company and rewarding them for not taking bailout money. What people forget (because the media didn't make it their #1 new story) is Ford went broke first and secured government sponsored money well over a year before the automotive industry crisis became front page news. Ford has done a great job of paying those loans back but at what cost? The cost of taking a lot of short cuts and rushing products to market…. They have brought a lot of nice looking vehicles to market in a short time but at what cost? Time will tell. Ford has totally Forest Gumped themselves into becoming America’s fondest manufacturer. I have contacts at Ford suppliers that shake their heads at the lower spec limit parts that Ford now considers an upper level part in order to keep production costs down. I doubt when Ford’s turn comes all of their issues will be on the front page news.
I owe nothing to Toyota, I don’t even own one (not that I wouldn’t). In fact, if it wasn’t for GM, I wouldn’t have food on my table tonight or toys in the garage. I just have a strong opinion that Toyota is getting the short end of the stick on this and there will be fall out that will affect GM, Ford, Chrysler Group and the rest. The Government is not going to get this involved without creating a bunch of new laws that won’t ultimately drive up the cost of future vehicles. It is a shame the general population can't see what is really going on here.
