US Exploits Toyota Woes

Toyota has been exporting automobiles to North America for decades. Their vehicles have long been favored by people who appreciate economy, reliability, and style.

Though data is sketchy, what I found seems consistent with Toyota being the World's top-selling brand. And for good reason. The safety and reliability ratings and economy, coupled with extremely high customer satisfaction ratings and loyalty, make them highly desirable.

Toyota started making economical vehicles long before economy was an issue. Back when gas was cheap and we thought we'd never run out. Back when we all thought the Ozone layer was the dense smoke in a bar after 11:00 o'clock. Consider how much worse the Ozone layer would be if all those Toyota customers had instead opted for gas guzzling American cars for the last 40 years.

So now, much to their despair, Toyota has had a wrinkle in their manufacturing that has resulted in recalls, halted sales, and left a question mark in the mind of many about safety. Toyota handled the situation quickly and in light of the scale of the problem, efficiently. (BP take a lesson) The deficiencies have been identified, technicians deployed, and suspect vehicles are being inspected and / or repaired at a record pace. Toyota values their safety rating. It is a source of pride for the company and it's employees around the world.

Timing is everything. All of this happens when the world economy is bottoming out. New vehicle sales are way down. The American government is dumping billions of dollars into their faltering automakers just to keep them afloat. What better way to deflect attention than to attack a very successful foreign competitor, and attack they did. Congressional hearings, inquiries, massive fines, and unprecedented news coverage. You can just hear the backroom chatter. "We have to attack. They have vehicles of mass destruction!"

It would be very, very telling to see data on the count of vehicle recalls by manufacturer over the last 30 years, and to assess how many American manufactured recalls posed serious safety risks to drivers and passengers but were never brought to light in the media.

The spin doctors of the US and the politicians and lobbyist's who motivate them, along with the Media have indeed put up a wonderful smokescreen, effectively drawing attention away from their homegrown disasters.

Toyota has been attacked, but in the end will have the last laugh. They still build better cars.