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Posts Tagged ‘Toyota’

Remember back when people thought their Toyotas were trying to kill them? And then the company issued huge recalls after a bunch of people peeled into traffic, blaming stuck accelerators, floor-mats, and computers? And then, quietly, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association basically said the crashes were caused by “pedal misapplication” i.e. some doofus holding down the accelerator when he meant to hold down the brake? Good times.

Toyota’s recall frenzy really took off in the winter of 2009 as floor mats galore were sent back for a good scrubbing. Like the Grinch taking the tree and all the presents to fix one little light bulb, Toyota seemed at once haughty and suspicious until they finally threw in the towel in January and offered a number of mea culpas. You’ll also recall that last November we were in an economic doldrums, cars weren’t selling, and anything manufacturers could do to get a leg up in the auto race was fair game. Toyota’s fall, then, definitely reduced their sales and although it’s hard to assess the improvement in competitor’s numbers (almost everyone has seen year-to-year decreases in sales since 2008), it’s clear Toyota’s non-issue was the industry’s gain. Although I don’t want to belittle the lives lost in the single tragic Lexus accelerator issue, it’s abundantly clear that Toyota was unfairly blamed for a number of issues that weren’t its fault.
TechCrunch