Feds: No electronic link to runaway Toyotas

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington— Federal safety officials said a comprehensive investigation has found no evidence that electronics were to blame for runaway Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles.

Instead, the government blamed sticky accelerator pedals and trapped floor mats — two causes that led Toyota to recall 11 million vehicles worldwide, including nearly 8 million in the United States, since 2009.

"The jury is back. The verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas. Period," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a packed press conference at the department's headquarters. "Our conclusion is Toyota's problems were mechanical, not electrical."

The finding should go a long way in helping the Japanese automaker put the question behind it.

Toyota has long insisted that electronics played no role in sudden acceleration cases Steve St.Angelo, Toyota's chief quality officer for North America, praised the findings. "We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America's foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles," St. Angelo said. Toyota said a "real world, un-commanded acceleration of the vehicle cannot occur."

LaHood said Toyota vehicles were safe — and that his daughter asked him last year if she should buy a 2011 Sienna.

"She wanted an ironclad guarantee from me that her vehicle was going to be safe," LaHood said. "I told me daughter that she should buy the Toyota, which she did."

After a 10-month investigation requested by Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA, in two studies, now say they found no proof that electronic glitches or computer problems led to unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. LaHood said the findings showed that NHTSA had been "right all along" in discounting electronic issues.

But federal regulators are considering new rules to address mechanical flaws in vehicles.

NHTSA may propose mandatory brake override systems on all vehicles. That software upgrade allows a drive to stop a vehicle by pressing on the brake, even if the throttle is stuck.

Toyota and many other automakers already are making the systems standard on all new vehicles.

NHTSA also is considering proposing mandatory event data recorders — so-called black boxes — in all vehicles by the end of the year. The recorders would help investigators determine the cause of crash.

The government said it will begin a study to see if new rules should address the placement of gas and brake pedals to help drivers avoid hitting the wrong pedal or getting one stuck. NHTSA is also considering new rules to standardize keyless ignition systems.

Many safety advocates, as well as some members of Congress, have insisted that electronics were to blame for some runaway Toyotas. They cited harrowing testimony of people who recounted that their vehicles suddenly accelerated.

The two mechanical causes of unintended acceleration — sticking accelerator pedals and pedals trapped under floor mats — "remain the only known causes for these kind of unsafe unintended acceleration incidents," the agency said.

NHTSA also said human error -- or pedal misapplication -- was to blame for many incidents.

After looking at more than 280,000 lines of software code in Toyota vehicles, NASA engineers found no electronic flaws capable of producing the large throttle openings required to create dangerous, high-speed unintended acceleration incidents, the Transportation Department said in a statement releasing its findings.

NASA said its review showed complaints of unintended acceleration are extremely rare — just one in 100,000 vehicles — or one for every 1.4 billion miles driven. NASA said it was "theoretically possible" that two electronic faults could cause unintended acceleration under specific circumstances, but said there would be warranty data to support it.

Despite a half dozen NHTSA investigations into sudden acceleration claims in Toyota vehicles, the automaker did little until the high profile deaths of four motorists — including an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer near San Diego in August 2009, who were killed when the vehicle sped out of control.

Investigators said the cause was a trapped floor mat in the loaner Lexus.

The company's once sterling reputation for quality took an enormous hit from the issue; it has paid nearly $49 million to settle three separate allegations by the government that it delayed recalls.

Since 2000, NHTSA has received more than 3,000 complaints alleging at least 93 deaths from Toyota sudden acceleration incidents, but has confirmed a link in just five deaths.

In January 2010, Toyota was forced to stop selling more than 60 percent of vehicles in the United States, as it searched for a fix for its sticky pedal problem. Its top executive, Akio Toyoda, was called to testify before Congress, and the issue got worldwide attention.

"Just about every member of Congress that questioned me said 'It's got to be electronics,'." LaHood said.

NHTSA focused on the facts, he said. "Everything is data-based. It's not made up. It's not based on emotion. It's not based on some story somebody told us."

Many in Congress criticized a July 2009 internal Toyota memo that bragged that the company saved more than $100 million by avoiding a more extensive mechanical fix to address sudden acceleration claims.

NHTSA and NASA's review of electronics or electromagnetic interference was extensive.

At the Goddard Space Flight Center, they examined and tested components of Toyota vehicles.

At a special facility at Chrysler Group LLC headquarters in Auburn Hills, NHTSA and NASA engineers bombarded vehicles with electromagnetic radiation to study whether it could be the cause of unintended acceleration claims.

Toyota has taken other steps to give U.S. employees more power to move on safety issues and been much quicker to recall vehicles. It led the industry with 7 million vehicels recalled in 2010 in the U.S.

LaHood praised Toyota for deciding to spent $50 million on a safety center in Michigan. "That's extraordinary. That shows they really care about safety," LaHood said.

The National Academy of Sciences is conducting a separate investigation into unintended acceleration in cars and trucks from all automakers. The findings of that probe are due by year's end.

Toyota still faces hundreds of lawsuits, and a federal grand jury in New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission have pending investigations into Toyota's handling of recalls.

Toyota's stock jumped in New York trading to $89.08 — up 4.6 percent — or nearly $4 a share on the news.

Source;
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110208/AUTO01/102080381/Feds-clear-Toyota-of-electronic-causes

Toyota Driver Koua Fong Lee Released from Prison; No New Trial for Deadly Crash

What a roller coaster of a story this is....my heart goes out to both families.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (CBS/WCCO/AP) Koua Fong Lee, the Minnesota man convicted in a 2006 Toyota crash that left three dead is now a free man. Shortly after a judge ordered a new trial for Lee - citing new evidence and a shoddy defense - Ramsay County prosecutor Susan Gaertner said she will not seek another trial.

Gaertner said Thursday that she thinks "it is time to bring this very tragic situation to a close," according to CBS affiliate WCCO. She spoke shortly after Judge Joanne Smith - the same judge who had sentenced Lee to 8 years in prison - ordered the new trial for Lee, 32, of St. Paul, Minn.

Gaertner said, according to WCCO, that Lee will not face further prosecution in connection with the events of June 10, 2006. She also said she understands why the judge ruled in favor of a new trial, though Gaertner stands by her office's opposition to it.

She finished by saying, "I wish Mr. Lee and his family the very best."

"It's not a dream. It's true," Lee said, as his wife, Panghoua Moua, buried her head in his shoulder. "When we are asleep in the cell, sometimes I dream and I wake up in the little room, still in the little room. But now my dream come true."

Lee, who immigrated to the U.S. from a Thai refugee camp in 2004, was driving a Toyota Camry when it plowed at high speed into the back of an Oldsmobile as Lee exited a St. Paul freeway ramp in 2006. He insisted during his trial that he did everything he could to stop the car but couldn't.

After being released, Lee said he wants to get to know his children. He has four children, ranging from 8 to just 2 years old. He said he wants them to know what the word "daddy" means.

Earlier Thursday, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office offered a deal to Lee, which gave him the chance to be released immediately if he withdrew his petition for a new trial.

Though the deal would've allowed Lee the chance to walk away from his eight-year prison sentence on criminal vehicular homicide and other charges, Lee rejected it because the conviction would've still stood. He would have remained a convicted felon and would have also had restrictions on his ability to drive.

Lee requested a new trial after Toyota recalled millions of vehicles because of problems with sudden unintended acceleration. Defense attorneys argued that Lee's original defender was ineffective and failed to explore the possibility of unintended acceleration.

Prosecutor Mark Lystig said Lee was driving too fast and was unfamiliar with the car when the crash occurred.

Lee was driving a 1996 Camry at the time of the crash. His car wasn't part of the recall.

Lee's attorneys had argued that evidence backed up Lee's account he was trying to brake.

Prosecutors had opposed a new trial, saying there was no compelling new evidence.

Judge Smith said if that testimony from the other Toyota drivers had been introduced then, it would "more likely than not, or probably, or even almost certainly" have resulted in a different verdict for Lee.

Javis Trice Adams, 33, and his 10-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr., died in the 2006 accident. Adams' 6-year-old niece, Devyn Bolton, was paralyzed from the neck down and died shortly after Lee was convicted. Two others were badly hurt.

Bridgette Trice, Devyn Bolton's mother, welcomed Thursday's ruling. The victims' families had supported Lee's effort for a new trial, but Trice was crying outside the courthouse as she spoke to reporters.

"I'm happy for him but I'm still sad for us, cause he's going back to his but ours are never coming back to us," Trice said.

Lee said he wanted the victims' families to know he didn't intend to cause the accident. "I want them to know that I will pray for them and I also want to ask them to forgive me and to believe me," he said.

Source;
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20012922-504083.html

Toyota executives to testify in Ottawa

More and more stuff is coming out about this Sikes guy....

Toyota owner James Sikes tells reporters that his Prius reached speeds topping 150 km/h after the accelerator became stuck on a San Diego County highway.

Several Toyota executives are scheduled to appear at a House of Commons committee hearing in Ottawa to answer questions about recent recalls.

Toyota has recalled about 8.5 million vehicles worldwide since last fall because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius.

MPs will question Yoichi Tomihara, president and CEO of Toyota Canada, about sticky accelerators and safety concerns.

Yoshi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, is also scheduled to appear before the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities. The company had originally said Inaba wasn't relevant to the Canadian hearings, but the company later reversed that decision.

Inaba recently appeared before a U.S. congressional committee to discuss quality concerns, alongside Akio Toyoda, the CEO of Toyota Motor Corp.

Ray Tanguay, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc., and Stephen Beatty, managing director of Toyota Canada Inc., are also expected to appear.

Liberal MP Joe Volpe, vice-chair of the committee, said a key question will be whether Toyota Canada responded to complaints about sticky accelerators quickly enough.

"We’re going to be looking at the relationship between Toyota and transportation officials and the Minister of Transport, on whether they had the interest of Canadians at heart when they were applying the law," Volpe said.

Tuesday’s testimony comes after a California man claimed that his Prius sped out of control on a freeway last week. Toyota tested the vehicle after the incident and released preliminary findings Monday.

After testing the vehicle, Toyota said the accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system also worked properly.

"It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically, that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," a memo prepared for Congress by a Toyota official said.

Toyota said it found severe wear and damage on the front brakes from overheating, but it noted that the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition.

Toyota owners have complained of their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles since 2000.

Source;
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/16/toyota-house-committee.html

Toyota Pulls a 'General Motors'...Again

This is something that I am not happy seeing, Toyota is going down a slippery road taking this route....
As the February 2010 have rolled out, a number of sources noted that Toyota is responding to its plummet in the figures with incentives and 0% financing. While this seems like a sure-fire way to boost their sales in the short term, it also makes Toyota sound more and more like the General Motors of the 1970s and 80s.

Consider this: Over the past decade Toyota has gone against longstanding traditional mores governing parent company/parts supplier relationships by putting the screws to their suppliers even in the best of times in order to milk the most profit out of each part. In addition to abusing their suppliers, Toyota has put international growth above all else (even by their own admission). After the first indications that this growth strategy could be taking its toll on vehicle reliability (sludging problems and other issues in the early 2000s) they respond not by becoming more proactive about beefing up reliability, but by spending tens of millions on lobbying to either kill or postpone new safety regulations and limit the scope of their mandatory recalls. When their efforts to skirt around costly recalls finally begin to catch up to them, they issue a massive recall that still manages to not cover all of the cars the NHTSA has recieved complaints about (i.e., the pre-2007 Camry). This recall is quickly "resolved" with a fix that not everyone is entirely certain will even solve the main problem in the first place. In response to the sales numbers lagging from the recall, Toyota creates incentives the likes of which they have never before imagined, which will certainly lead to a further devaluation of the other Toyotas on the road and the erosion of one of their biggest selling-points (resale value).

It doesn't take a historian to see the General Motors-esque pattern developing here. ("Profit Above All Else -> Short Term Thinking -> Negative Results from Short Term Thinking (unreliability) -> More Short Term Thinking (lobbying to avoid repair costs rather than simply recalling the product and fixing future models) -> More Negative Results (increasing numbers of complaints and/or deaths) -> More Short Term Thinking (hastily executed recall that may not have even solved the problem entirely) -> Product Devaluation -> More Short Thinking (incentives) -> Further Product Devaluation) Heck, GM got it down to a science in the 1970s and 80s, right before they were forced to pay the price. One has to wonder how long Toyota will play the old school General Motors game, and what kind of impact this will have on them in the long term. As anyone familiar with the history of the domestic auto manufacturers knows, you can only mortgage against public goodwill and favorable opinions about your company for so long before your company's reputation is upside down and your credit is damaged irrevocably.

Source;
http://www.toyotamonitor.com/blog/1043077_toyota-pulls-a-general-motors-again

Will Toyota's problems hurt Honda?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Toyota's recall problems could hurt more than its own reputation. It may have damaged the valuable image of quality and dependability American buyers attribute to most Japanese car brands.

Many assumed that Honda Motor (HMC) and Nissan (NSANY) would be two of the bigger winners from Toyota's well-publicized recall issues because many Toyota (TM) owners are used to looking at other Japanese brands before they buy.

While Edmunds.com forecasts that Toyota's February sales will be down 10% from a year ago, Honda, No. 4 in terms of U.S. sales, is forecast to be up 24% while sales at No. 6 Nissan are expected to rise 38%.

But those comparisons are to last February -- the worst month for auto sales since 1981. And most experts believe that potential Toyota customers are sitting on the sidelines rather than shifting brands.

But Honda and Nissan could suffer collateral damage if consumers no longer give Japanese cars the same deference as in the past. It's one of the reasons that many experts think domestic automakers such as Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) and General Motors and Korean automaker Hyundai Motor could be the biggest winners when the dust settles.

"Toyota is the flagship for products from Japan," said Jeff Schuster, director of global forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates. "It's hard to document how much it could hurt the other Japanese brands, but clearly it has potential to ripple through."

Figures from surveys conducted by Kelley Blue Book in recent weeks suggest that while current owners of Hondas and Nissans are staying loyal to those companies, fewer owners of other makes of cars would consider making a shift to Toyota's Japanese rivals now than before the crisis.

Hwei-Lin Oetken, vice president of market intelligence at Kelley Blue Book said there have also been small declines in how consumers rate the safety of Honda and Nissan in the latest survey.
Adding to the reputation risk for Honda is its own safety recall of 438,000 cars in February related to problems in airbags, although that was far less extensive than the more than 8 million Toyotas that have been recalled. Honda's problems also received far less media attention.

Honda spokeswoman Christina Ra said Honda hasn't changed its sales forecast due the problems with Toyota. She said all Honda can do is deal with its own recall and not worry about how it will be affected by problems at Toyota. But she conceded it could have a negative impact.
"Something like this in the news would undoubtedly cause questions and concern among customers," she said. "Only time will tell how that will shake out."

Nissan spokesman Fred Standish said he hadn't seen the Kelley Blue Book survey results so he couldn't comment on them, but he pointed out Nissan had record U.S. market share in January and is poised to report strong February sales.

"That's where the proof is, not in survey results," he said.

What makes the risk for the Japanese automakers greater is that the actual quality of the vehicles is now roughly the same as the quality of the two leading domestic brands, Chevrolet and Ford. That wasn't true a decade ago.

The J.D. Power initial quality survey found that for 2000 model year vehicles, Ford and Chevrolet vehicles had between 29% to 42% more problems than Toyotas and Hondas. But for 2009 model vehicles, the gap is down to between 1% and 4%.

The recall crisis has the chance to "level the playing field a little bit more in perception," said Schuster.

David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, said without the recall crisis, many Americans would have gone on believing that this quality gap was still in place. But the recalls took away much of the edge the Japanese brands had in the eyes of potential consumers.

"The perception-reality gap is now gone," Cole said. "When you lose that aura, the whole deck gets reshuffled."

But others don't believe Japan's reputation for quality has been permanently damaged by Toyota's recalls.

"We don't think this is going to create a negative halo over the Japanese brands," said Lonnie Miller, vice president of industry analysis for R.L. Polk. "This is a big event right now, but I still believe that consumers have a short-term memory. Only if this keeps going and going could I see the perception gap closing."

Source;
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/01/news/companies/toyota_honda/

Toyota Parts Sellers Probed (by FBI)

Yikes!
U.S., Japanese and European investigators raided the offices of auto-parts suppliers tightly tied to Toyota Motor Corp. in recent days stemming from a probe in alleged anticompetitive practices.

The probes aren't connected with the Japanese auto maker's quality issues. But it comes as Toyota faces political pressure at home and abroad after a series of quality lapses.

Warrants were carried out on the Michigan offices of Yazaki Corp. in Canton, Denso International America Inc., in Southfield, and Tokai Rika Co., also known as Tram, in Plymouth, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.

"The Antitrust Division is investigating the possibility of anti-competitive cartel conduct of automotive electronic components suppliers," said Department of Justice spokeswoman Gina Talamona. "We are coordinating with the European Commission and other foreign competition authorities."

The European Commission, which regulates competition in the European Union, said Thursday that it had conducted so-called dawn raids—unannounced visits—Wednesday at the premises of several companies in Europe that make electrical-distribution systems for automobiles. The commission said it has "reason to believe" the companies may have broken EU rules that forbid cartel behavior.

It named neither the companies raided nor the countries in which they were located, though German auto-parts maker Leoni AG said Thursday its offices were searched. The investigation appeared to be global. The EU said it was coordinating its probe with "several other competition authorities worldwide."

Another large German automotive parts supplier, Robert Bosch GmbH, said it wasn't being investigated as part of the EU probe.

French automotive supplier Valeo said that it no longer has any wiring harness operations since it sold them to Leoni in 2007. "Valeo is not involved in this investigation," a spokeswoman said.
The EU is an active cartel-buster. Between 2004 and 2009, it ruled that 243 companies had participated in cartels, and it levied €10.1 billion ($13.67 billion) in fines. It does target foreign companies, though nine of the 10 largest cartel fines it has issued since 1969 have gone to European companies. The unlucky holder of the top spot is France's Saint Gobain Group, which was fined €896 million in 2008 for participating in an auto-glass cartel. The dawn raids suggest the EU is taking the case seriously. Under a leniency program, the first cartel participant to rat out its fellow price-fixers can escape fines. That has increased the number of cases in recent years.

In Japan, investigators searched the offices of Yazaki, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co. and several other Japanese electric cable makers over suspected collusion, an official with the Fair Trade Commission said.

Denso, Yazaki, Sumitomo and Furukawa confirmed the probes and said they were cooperating. A Tokai Rika spokesman couldn't be reached.

Officials are looking at possible anticompetitive behavior of these companies, the people familiar with the matter said. Toyota has ownership stakes in Denso and Tokai Rika.

U.S.-based auto parts makers have for years cited frustration in attempting to win new contracts from Toyota when bidding against one of Toyota's "captive suppliers."

Toyota spokeswoman Cindy Knight said the company is still trying to determine why the FBI is investigating Denso, Yazaki and Tokai Rika.

"Toyota is aware that certain suppliers have been contacted by government officials, but we have limited information about the scope of the investigation," Ms. Knight said. "Toyota has not been contacted by authorities."

The raid came the same week as Toyota and federal automobile-safety regulators testified about problems of unintended acceleration in some Toyota vehicles.

Yazaki supplies several electronic components, while Denso makes a variety of parts including accelerator pedals that Toyota has used in its vehicles. Those pedals weren't involved in the recent recalls of Toyota vehicles based on complaints of unintended acceleration.

Tokai Rika makes a variety of safety products including seat belts, door mirrors, power windows and steering switches. — Brent Kendall, Kate Linebaugh , Charles Forelle, Peppi Kiviniemi and Nico Schmidt contributed to this article.

Source;
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704479404575087001494145936.html?mod=WSJ_auto_IndustryCollection

Honda Warns Toyota Troubles Could Spread Through Industry

Honda's top finance executive warns that Toyota's growing recall effort could have a ripple effect throughout the industry, as consumer lose faith in the world's automakers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Honda Chief Financial Executive Yoichi Hojo tells the paper that "if customers start to harbor doubts about [quality and safety], that would be problem for the whole industry.

Hojo says Honda will be ratchetting up incentive programs in the United States to reduce inventory, but will not target them specifically at Toyota owners.

Honda's refusal to go after disaffected customers from its main rival offers a unique opportunity for other automakers, like General Motors and Ford, to pick up customers with the host of deals they are offering to current Toyota owners, including rebates of up to $1,000.

By contrast, Honda has said it will continue offering "orthodox" measures such as leasing services and the usual discounts to any kind of customers, not limited to Toyota owners. Toyota's troubles "won't necessarily be a positive," said Mr. Hojo.

Worse, Toyota's quality issues could cast a shadow over other auto makers. "I think we should see this Toyota problem from a broader viewpoint," he said. "If customers start to harbor doubts about [quality and safety], that would be problem for the whole industry."

Mr. Hojo's comments illustrate the difficulties that Toyota's quality woes present to the rest of the industry. The world's No. 1 auto maker by sales volume is a fierce competitor with a strong presence in fuel-efficient vehicles such as its gasoline-electric Prius hybrid. The company has recalled 8.1 million vehicles for sudden-acceleration problems and will likely start a separate effort this week in Japan to fix braking problems on some Prius models, weakening its competitive edge.

At the same time, Toyota's troubles have raised sensitive industrywide issues, including the role of U.S. safety regulators such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in probing Japanese-made cars after Washington-led bailouts of their U.S. rivals. Mr. Hojo played down those tensions. "I don't think that NHTSA is anti-Japanese," he said.

Mr. Hojo said that Honda, Japan's No. 2 auto maker, is set to increase incentives to car buyers in the U.S. to $1,400 per vehicle in the quarter ending March 31, up from $800 provided in the previous quarter.

"Competition remains tough. We have relatively low inventory levels. But for the Accord and the Civic, their inventory days came to around 70 days in January [compared with the company's average of 60 days]. So we'll spend incentives for these," he said.

Among the major car makers in the U.S., Honda offered the lowest incentive average of $1,281 last year, according to data by Edmunds.com.

Mr. Hojo said that industrywide U.S. auto sales grew to 11.2 million in December on a seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate basis, the second-best month of 2009 after August, which received a major boost from the "cash for clunkers" U.S. government-rebate program.

But he said the growth was driven mainly by fleet sales to rental and commercial operators, which are generally less profitable than retail sales to individual customers. "Demand from individuals hasn't yet recovered yet," he said.

Mr. Hojo said a full recovery in the U.S. market was necessary for its earnings to return to pre-financial crisis levels. "We sold 1.15 million vehicles in 2009 and plans to sell 1.23 million in 2010. But these numbers are 300,000 to 400,000 fewer than the past volume," he said. He added, "we don't see yet" a sign of when it will return to the past healthy volume of around 1.60 million vehicles, he added.

The car maker, which also makes jets, lawnmowers and water pumps, expects net profit to soar 93% to 265 billion yen ($2.96 billion) in this fiscal year, which ends March 31.

Mr. Hojo said that in India, sales of Honda's motorcycles "are growing explosively" with a 30% sale increase in the three months ended in December. The overall market will likely increase 35% to nine million motorcycles sold annually, he said.

Honda is also set to launch a newly developed low-cost car with a price of below 500,000 rupees (about $10,720) in 2011 to tap the booming market. Honda's auto sales in India jumped 43% from a year earlier in the October-December quarter to 15,800 vehicles. "The market will grow further," said Mr. Hojo.

Source;

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703630404575052844021894912.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular

Toyota Announces Pedal Recall Fix

Toyota today announced it will begin fixing accelerator pedals in all of this week's 18.4 billion-gazillion (approx.) recalled vehicles with a "precision cut steel reinforcement bar." Details below.
Toyota claims they've finally pinpointed the issue that could, on rare occasions, cause accelerator pedals in recalled vehicles to stick in a partially open position. The issue involves a friction device in the pedal designed to provide the proper "feel" by adding resistance and making the pedal steady and stable. The device includes a "shoe" that rubs against an adjoining surface during normal pedal operation. Due to the materials used, wear and environmental conditions, these surfaces may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly. In some cases, friction could increase to a point that the pedal is slow to return to the idle position or, in rare cases, the pedal sticks, leaving the throttle partially open.

Toyota's solution for current owners includes a precision-cut steel reinforcement bar being installed into the assembly that'll reduce the surface tension between the friction shoe and the adjoining surface. With this reinforcement in place, the excess friction that can cause the pedal to stick will supposedly be eliminated.

And, hey, why not also get your floor mat fixed while you're in getting yer pedals fixed.

Source;
http://jalopnik.com/5461198/toyota-announces-accelerator-pedal-fiery-death-fix

Honda Takes the High Road on Toyota Recall

TORRANCE, California — In stark contrast to the tactics of General Motors and Ford in the aftermath of Toyota's massive recall, Honda on Thursday said it "will not react in a predatory way toward either Toyota or Toyota customers."

General Motors and Ford launched incentive programs this week aimed squarely at enticing disgruntled Toyota customers away from the brand as it struggles with a major image problem as a result of the recall. The domestic automakers' tactic of luring customers away from Toyota was criticized by some bloggers and even one other automaker — Hyundai — who likened the two to "vultures."

Honda also addressed customer concerns about how it is affected — if at all — by the Toyota recall for faulty accelerator pedals. The letter, to Honda and Acura dealers from John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor, is a tutorial on how to handle questions from the media and consumers.

"The recently announced Toyota recall has prompted some customer questions to you, our Honda and Acura dealers," said Mendel in the letter. "In fact, Toyota's recall, while serious, has no impact whatsoever on Honda or Acura customers. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is not aware of any reports for either Honda or Acura vehicles, regarding the type of failure Toyota is citing as the cause for its recall. Additionally, while we use the same supplier as Toyota for some of our products (as do other manufacturers), we do not use the same components."

Inside Line says: No Honda or Acura incentives are in the works for Toyota customers. And only time will tell which automakers had the correct response to the crisis. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent

Source;

http://www.insideline.com/honda/honda-takes-the-high-road-on-toyota-recall.html

Toyota CEO Apologizes to His Customers: 'I Am Deeply Sorry'

I for one wish that everyone would take a step back and look at what Toyota is actually doing to correct this. This negative backlash (I'm not saying we should expect everyone affected to be too thrilled about it either) is probably more than what Toyota expected and when many of the other companies (GM, Toyota didn't kick you when you were down - and now you're offering Toyota customers $1,000 additional for any Toyota trade?!?) that see this going on have thier own recalls to make, are they going to be as up front about them? There are numerous examples of unreported problems in the Auto industry and hats off to Toyota for taking care of their customers. I think that this will be a short term loss and a long term gain for Toyota/Auto industry.
In his first public comment about the massive safety crisis surrounding his company, the President and CEO of Toyota apologized to his customers for causing them so much worry.

"I am deeply sorry," said Akio Toyoda in a brief interview with the Japanese network NHK as he left his hotel in Davos, Switzerland. After the interview he was seen leaving in a black Audi( huh?!? Must be a rental).

Toyoda had been attending the economic conference with other corporate and government leaders this week, while his deputies struggled to quell a consumer rebellion triggered by the recall of nine million cars worldwide.

In the interview, Toyoda said he could not answer questions because the company "was still investigating." He said he hoped to provide an explanation to Toyota customers soon.

"Truly we think of our customers as a priority and we guarantee their safety," he said, according to a translation.

Referring to the near collapse of the company's once strong reputation for safety and quality, Toyoda said, "I would like for the people to trust us."

Toyoda is the grandson of the car company's founder and has publicly criticized the company's drive for profits in the last decade.

The Wall Street Journal reported Toyota would place full page newspaper ads in 25 cities Sunday and Monday to explain how it plans to fix the most-recent defect found in eight of its models involving a sticky gas pedal.

The company is awaiting federal government approval of a redesigned accelerator pedal that is being produced by its supplier, CTS, and has already been shipped to some of its factories, according to CTS.

The company ordered a halt to sales and production of the eight models with the flawed pedal on Tuesday, following a recall of millions of cars a few days earlier.

The recall, which spread to Europe and China, is now estimated to involve at least nine million cars and trucks.

Source;
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota-ceo-apologizes-deeply/story?id=9700622

Toyota adds another 1.1 million cars to floor mat recall.

The accelerator pedal, right, in a 2010 Toyota Camry is seen on the show room floor of Bobby Rahal Toyota in Mechanicsburg, Pa., Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will replace accelerator pedals on about 4 million recalled vehicles in the United States because the pedals can get stuck in the floor mats.

Tonight Toyota has added another 1.1 million cars to its floor mat recall in September.

That recall now includes the these additional models:

2008-2010 Highlander;
2009-2010 Corolla
2009-2010 Venza;
2009-2010 Matrix;
And the 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe.

This is in addition to the 4.2 million cars recalled in September for floor mat issues.
Here’s how Toyota plans to fix these cars:

“Toyota's remedy plan is to modify or replace the accelerator pedals on the subject vehicles to address the risk of floor mat entrapment, even when an older-design all weather floor mat or other inappropriate mat is improperly attached, or is placed on top of another floor mat. Floor surface modifications are also being considered and will be included in the remedy plan for any model for which it is deemed appropriate.

Initially, dealers will be instructed on how to reshape the accelerator pedal for the repair. As replacement parts with the same shape as the modified pedal become available, they will be made available to the dealers for the repair. Customers who have had the pedal reshape remedy completed will have the opportunity to receive a new pedal if they desire, after replacement pedals become available.

In addition, Toyota will replace any Toyota all-weather floor mat in a subject vehicle with a newly designed mat, free of charge. For those customers who have the previous design all-weather floor mat but do not need or want the newly designed all-weather floor mat, Toyota will recover the previous design all-weather floor mat and reimburse its price.”

Toyota gas pedal problem blogs since last year
Floor mat warning issued- September 29, 2009
Gas pedal sticking update- October 29, 2009
ABC News investigates gas pedal problem- November 3, 2009
Toyota announces fix for gas pedal problem- November 25, 2009
More gas pedal problems prompt recall of 2.3 million Toyota cars- January 21, 2010
Pontiac Vibe part of recall- January 24, 2010

Toyota halts sales of 8 models with gas pedal problems - January 26, 2010

Source;
http://www.kvue.com/news/consumer/Toyota-adds-another-11-million-cars-to-floor-mat-recall-82856627.html

Toyota learns the dangers of being No. 1

At the end of the day you can say one thing about this whole Toyota debacle, they are doing the right thing.

Quality problems follow period of rapid expansion

When Toyota Motor Corp. (TM-N79.77----%) was on the brink of overtaking General Motors as the world's biggest auto maker in 2008, executives were busy sending out warning signals about the dangers of being No. 1.

Toyota is now witnessing the realization of those fears, caught in a mushrooming recall debacle affecting as many as eight million cars – a development many say underscores the difficulty of maintaining top-notch quality in a hasty expansion.

It may also be the manifestation of the “big-company disease” that Toyota President Akio Toyoda has vowed to quash since taking the helm last June, aiming to restore the company's solid foundation that he said was lost during a decade of rapid global growth.

Mr. Toyoda has not commented publicly on the faulty accelerators and floor mats since expressing regret for the deaths of four people in a crash linked to the problems in August last year.

“Toyota is the new GM in terms of experiencing quality glitches, overexpansion and the proliferation of new product models,” said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group.

“Toyota has been too aggressive and perhaps complacent in terms of focus on quality. They can't concentrate on the details with so many models.”

Toyota, Japan's largest company with a market capitalization of around $141-billion, produces dozens of models around the world and has more than 500 subsidiary companies.

Toyoda, who warned last year that his company faced the prospect of “capitulation to irrelevance or death“, citing a five-phase road to demise outlined by business scholar Jim Collins, has his work cut out for him.

The reason? Toyota's recent quality woes are not new.

As vehicle recalls mounted to more than a million a year, then-president Katsuaki Watanabe in 2006 assigned two executive vice-presidents to oversee quality improvements. One was tasked specifically to work closely with suppliers to catch design defects early.

The current recalls in North America and Europe involve accelerator pedals produced by CTS Corp.

Two years later, in 2008, Mr. Watanabe had said those efforts had borne fruit, and that recall cases had fallen dramatically. Indeed, the “back-to-basics” goal was one that Mr. Watanabe had promptly pledged when he took office as far back as 2003.

The latest recall, of unprecedented scale, throws the efforts back to square one.

Mr. Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder, has outlined broad steps aimed at returning the company to profit and speed up decision making, but has yet to announce new plans to improve quality checks.

TOYOTA-BASHING

The level of attention on Toyota's woes – from consumer groups, media and the government – is also the manifestation of another major fear that Toyota has harboured: that public opinion could be unkind to those at the top.

In addition to the recall, Toyota has shut down sales of its best-selling vehicles in North America under pressure from the Obama administration to address the product safety issue, in an almost unheard-of intervention.

Unlike GM, Toyota has feared the backlash and shunned the spotlight as the world's biggest auto maker. As the Detroit giant – once the symbol of U.S. industrial might – faced bankruptcy last year, those worries had escalated.

Many industry watchers say matter-of-factly that Toyota's massive loss forecasts for this year were a deliberate attempt to prevent a potential bashing – a charge that Toyota denies.

Last May, Toyota projected an operating loss of a staggering ¥850-billion ($9.4-billion) for the financial year to March 31. It has since revised that to a ¥350-billion loss, but analysts expect it to end up at close to break-even.

“If I were the president, I would do the same thing,” said Toshiro Yoshinaga, an analyst at Aizawa Securities.

“As long as GM is sick, it wouldn't look good if Toyota turned a profit this year,” he said.
Many also see Toyota's handling of the current recall as an attempt to win over consumers' hearts.

Toyota said on Wednesday it would offer to replace floor mats or accelerator pedals on another 1.1 million vehicles across five models in the United States because many consumers had called asking for a remedy. A Toyota spokesman said there was in fact no known glitch in those models, and that the voluntary action was solely meant to appease worried drivers.

“Toyota is trying very hard to do the right thing and being bold and having large recalls to portray the fact that they are willing to stop at nothing and spare no expense so nobody gets hurt in their vehicles,” said Jake Fisher, automotive engineer at Consumer Reports.

Meanwhile, “challenger” GM has capitalized on Toyota's woes, saying it would offer incentives to U.S. consumers switching from Toyota cars.

But Mitsuru Kurokawa, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, said would-be Toyota buyers would not necessarily flock to U.S. brands, but rather to rivals such as Hyundai Motor.

“And if that happens, there's a chance that the criticism will then turn to Hyundai,” he said.

Source;
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/toyota-learns-the-dangers-of-being-no-1/article1447164/