Post by TonyV on Feb 25, 2010 1:10:57 GMT -5
;D
Last Updated: February 24. 2010 8:16PM .
Toyota disavows memo bragging of savings by limiting recall
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington -- After two days of marathon testimony before congressional committees, Toyota Motor Corp. still faces questions over electronics and a now infamous July 2009 memo.
The company's North American chief, Yoshimi Inaba came under withering criticism from Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., and other members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday over the now disavowed July 6, 2009, memo that bragged about cost savings the automaker realized from stopping, delaying or minimizing safety recalls and regulations. It came as a presentation of the company's successes in Washington.
Toyota still hasn't explained its next step in fixing the problem of sudden acceleration, since it now says that its remedies will "not totally" solve it -- and not all vehicles can be retrofitted with brake override software to stop runaway vehicles.
Mica called the document "embarrassing" and deeply damaging to the company and its U.S. dealers, some of whom report sales declines of 30 to 50 percent since the recall troubles exploded.
"To me it's unbelievable," Mica said. "I'm embarrassed for you sir. I'm embarrassed for my dealers," he says, calling the memo "appalling."
Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif, said Congress won't punish Toyota -- but the market will.
Inaba said he doesn't remember the memo "in any depth." But he disavowed it, saying "it is so inconsistent with the guiding principals of Toyota."
Mica said a similar document produced by any company would be "one of the most injurious things you could do to anyone's reputation."
The presentation, included among 75,000 pages of documents turned over to congressional investigators, has become the closest thing to a "smoking gun" in Congress' investigation into Toyota's handling of more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide for sudden acceleration concerns.
The document, a presentation by Toyota's Washington office to Inaba on his second day on the job, declares a number of "safety wins."
First published by The Detroit News Sunday, the memo bragged that Toyota safety officials in Washington were able to save more than $100 million by agreeing to recall just 55,000 floor mats in 2007 over sudden acceleration issues. It wasn't until late 2009, after the deaths of four California motorists, that Toyota agreed to a far more comprehensive and expensive fix.
Since then, Toyota has said it will cost up to $2 billion to fix the recalled vehicles worldwide, as well as the cost of thousands of lost sales, since the company couldn't sell 60 percent of its fleet for more than a week in the United States.
dshepardson@detnews.com (202) 662-8735
Last Updated: February 24. 2010 8:16PM .
Toyota disavows memo bragging of savings by limiting recall
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington -- After two days of marathon testimony before congressional committees, Toyota Motor Corp. still faces questions over electronics and a now infamous July 2009 memo.
The company's North American chief, Yoshimi Inaba came under withering criticism from Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., and other members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday over the now disavowed July 6, 2009, memo that bragged about cost savings the automaker realized from stopping, delaying or minimizing safety recalls and regulations. It came as a presentation of the company's successes in Washington.
Toyota still hasn't explained its next step in fixing the problem of sudden acceleration, since it now says that its remedies will "not totally" solve it -- and not all vehicles can be retrofitted with brake override software to stop runaway vehicles.
Mica called the document "embarrassing" and deeply damaging to the company and its U.S. dealers, some of whom report sales declines of 30 to 50 percent since the recall troubles exploded.
"To me it's unbelievable," Mica said. "I'm embarrassed for you sir. I'm embarrassed for my dealers," he says, calling the memo "appalling."
Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif, said Congress won't punish Toyota -- but the market will.
Inaba said he doesn't remember the memo "in any depth." But he disavowed it, saying "it is so inconsistent with the guiding principals of Toyota."
Mica said a similar document produced by any company would be "one of the most injurious things you could do to anyone's reputation."
The presentation, included among 75,000 pages of documents turned over to congressional investigators, has become the closest thing to a "smoking gun" in Congress' investigation into Toyota's handling of more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide for sudden acceleration concerns.
The document, a presentation by Toyota's Washington office to Inaba on his second day on the job, declares a number of "safety wins."
First published by The Detroit News Sunday, the memo bragged that Toyota safety officials in Washington were able to save more than $100 million by agreeing to recall just 55,000 floor mats in 2007 over sudden acceleration issues. It wasn't until late 2009, after the deaths of four California motorists, that Toyota agreed to a far more comprehensive and expensive fix.
Since then, Toyota has said it will cost up to $2 billion to fix the recalled vehicles worldwide, as well as the cost of thousands of lost sales, since the company couldn't sell 60 percent of its fleet for more than a week in the United States.
dshepardson@detnews.com (202) 662-8735