Toyota discussion

Here's an email someone from church sent. I don't know if it will apply to any of my readers but I thought I would just share it.

 

I was chatting to some of the girls at the count team lunch about the Toyota recall stuff and wanted to share some of the information i receive at work. In particular, the very last part about how not only Toyota cars experience unintended acceleration. The article goes into detail explaining that the largest percentage of calls received by NHTSA is from Toyota drivers and to V's point, its probably as a result of more Toyota cars being on the road than the other brands.

 

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1. Akio Toyoda Speaks About Hybrid Recalls at News Conference

Here are the prepared remarks by TMC President Akio Toyoda for a press briefing today in Japan to discuss the recall of four models to correct an ABS software program:

Thank you for joining us today. We submitted recall notifications earlier today to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in regard to four models: the Prius, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, the Sai and the [Lexus] HS 250h sold in Japan. The notifications are in regard to the braking systems employed in those models.

Our dealers will inform customers who have purchased the Prius model in question over the next few days. We urge the owners to take their vehicles into the dealers for a repair to correct the problem. And we apologize sincerely for the inconvenience.

More generally, let me reiterate our profound apologies for the quality and safety issues that have caused concern for our customers.

Regarding the four models recalled, although it is very difficult to describe, a phenomenon occurs in which the brakes seem to "soften" for a split second when the antilock braking system comes into play at slow speeds on snowy or otherwise extremely slippery road surfaces.

We have heard concerns from customers about this problem, and we are recalling the cars in question to resolve the problem completely. We are determined to ensure that our customers can feel absolutely at ease with their vehicles.

This recall pertains to about 400,000 vehicles worldwide. We will take appropriate measures as soon as possible for the good of our customers in the United States, Europe and in other regions.

In addition to the Prius, we are now preparing remedies for the other three models. We will suspend sales of those three models, or suspend deliveries to customers in the case of completed purchases, until we have prepared the solutions, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

I apologize, too, for the uncertainty that vehicle owners will experience while awaiting the repairs. Please know that sustained pressure on the brake pedal will bring the car to a stop, even in the kind of conditions that I have described. Please keep that in mind when driving in such conditions.

For us at Toyota, this episode is an occasion for redoubling our commitment to quality as our most fundamental principle—indeed, as the very life of our company. I will take charge personally of a coordinated effort by everyone at Toyota, at our dealers and at our suppliers to regain the confidence of our customers. And I assure you we will devote ourselves—heart and soul—to that effort.

Thank you.

 

2. Congressional Hearing Postponed

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced today it has postponed its Wednesday hearing entitled, "Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?" A new hearing date will be announced as soon as possible.

 

3. Akio Toyoda Op-Ed Appears in Today's Washington Post

In an op-ed piece today in the Washington Post, TMC President Akio Toyoda discusses the current recalls and the steps we are taking to regain the trust of American drivers and their families. "Great companies learn from their mistakes," he writes. "We know that we have to win back the trust of our customers by adhering to the very values on which that trust was first built." To read the entire op-ed, please click on

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020803078.html?hpid=topnews.

 

4. Jim Lentz Participates in Digg Dialogg

TMS President and COO Jim Lentz responded to consumer questions Monday on Digg, a social news Web site where people share Internet content. The site's 44 million monthly visitors were invited to submit questions, and members of the community voted on the top 10 they wanted Lentz to answer. To access a video of the interview, go to

http://digg.com/dialogg/Jim_Lentz_1.

 

5. CNN: "Sudden Unintended Acceleration is Not a Problem Limited to Toyota"

A report on CNN.com this weekend noted that unintended acceleration is not an issue limited to Toyota.

According to the report:

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"NHTSA's [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] online database indicates that every one of [the top five car manufacturers in the U.S – General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chrysler] has received numerous consumer complaints of sudden unintended acceleration in more than one of its models. Each manufacturer has faced a formal investigation into these complaints by the NHTSA and as a result has had to recall vehicles to fix various conditions that led to the problem."

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"Recalls have also been issued for vehicles made by Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Mazda, Land Rover, Suzuki and Volvo."

To read the entire piece, click on:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/05/sudden.acceleration.fact.check/index.html?iref=allsearch.