It Is A New Year But Can Toyota Successfully Distance Themselves From The 2010 Disaster?

Safety sells — or so Toyota hopes. The carmaker will invest $50 million in what it has dubbed the Collaborative Safety Research Center, in Ann Arbor, Mich. — a facility the company says will work to improve vehicle design and address the much-discussed issue of driver distraction.

The timing of the announcement is less than coincidental. The Japanese giant, the world’s largest car manufacturer, is desperately struggling to reverse a series of setbacks related to the safety scandal that led it to recall more than 11 million vehicles in 2010, most of them in the United States. That has not only led to record fines but also a slump in sales that last year saw Toyota slip behind rival Ford in the U.S.for the first time in several years.


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Steve - 1/19/2011 3:53:56 PM

+1 Boost

Did Audi ever successfully "distance" themselves from their unintended acceleration / pedal misapplication disaster? I speculate the key will be the finding of the government enquiry into the affair. Hopefully, the government can succeed in finding the cause to these unintended acceleration incidents, where Toyota, CSIs, and even NASA could not.

g2ok - 1/19/2011 6:17:31 PM

0 Boost

I think the government will not find much more than Toyota itself and just fine them for sum dollar amount to call it even. That's the way the Feds roll. It's important anyhow that the head man in charge demands quality from his employees and suppliers. It's his family name on the car, so like Ford they can have some pride.

Notjustlex - 1/19/2011 5:10:27 PM

+2 Boost

Yeah I'm sure the government will come up with the answer as they always get it right.

g2ok - 1/19/2011 6:20:39 PM

-3 Boost

It will take 3-4 years to turn around the public perception and Toyota needs to use that to improve model designs. I think they have the worst designers, judging by the current 4Runner/GX, which is a box on 4 wheels. Corolla and Camry are looking very old now.

WorldofLuxury - 1/19/2011 7:41:44 PM

+6 Boost

009 is really getting on my nerves. I've never been so irritated since elementary school...

LexSucks - 1/19/2011 7:56:58 PM

-6 Boost

You Toyota fans are an emotional bunch aren't you?

LexSucks - 1/19/2011 7:54:03 PM

-2 Boost

What disaster? Last time I checked Toyota is still making money hand-over-foot. But I'm with you on the Toyota hate 009. Keep it coming.

Steve - 1/19/2011 10:59:21 PM

0 Boost

As in any good witch-hunt, what the mob *believes* is more important than the facts, or lack of them.

irishmike - 1/20/2011 7:52:04 PM

+1 Boost

Toyota no longer offers a vehicle I would buy. Nothing to do with my confidence in the quality of their vehicles, I hate the lineup and of all the asian cars, toyotas are very bland.
This has been a witch hunt, along with many instances of fraud by the consumers looking to cash in on this.