Has Toyota's Only Crime Been Getting Caught Doing What Every Manufacturer Already Does?

Toyota Motor Corp. officials bragged in late 2007 that they saved more than $100 million by deterring U.S. safety officials from ordering costly repairs to prevent runaway vehicles, e-mails obtained by The Detroit News show.

The communications suggest some executives knew of the situation nearly two years earlier than was acknowledged in a July 2009 internal company document that surfaced this year.

In that presentation, Toyota officials touted the $100 million they saved by agreeing in 2007 to recall just 55,000 floor mats that could have interfered with the gas pedal.

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thstone - 8/23/2010 8:18:23 PM

+2 Boost

Live by the media, die by the media.

They rode the media's coattails for 40 years getting more good press than they deserved and now they seem to be getting more bad news than they deserve.

Using the media for publicity gain is a lot like making a deal with the devil. Someday, the bill is going to come due.

MorePower - 8/25/2010 2:56:33 AM

+1 Boost

Toyota's only crime was not coming up with a solution to this/these problems before the death of the California Highway Patrol man and his family became global news. No one buys a perfect car: not McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari, Honda or anyone else.

What hurt Toyota is that they built their brand image around reliability, safety and ease of use. The fact that they knew about the safety issue(s), to some extent, concealed it and took so long to respond tarnishes their image. They only need to give it some time and release some good product. People will forget.