Even if Toyota hadn’t antagonized the ruling party, its congressional hearings would have been a posture-fest anyway. Congress can’t do much about Toyota’s recent behavior besides name, shame and tell the NHTSA to do a better job next time. Sure, the lights and cameras of congressional theater might get Akio Toyoda to sweat a little, but with an ever-increasing number of civil suits pending, criminal investigations are the real cause for concern. A New York federal grand jury has subpoenaed “certain documents related to unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles and the braking system of the Prius,” reports the LA Times. Both Toyota and its US sales division were also targeted by an SEC subpoena, requesting similar documents, including details of the company’s disclosure policy. If either of these criminal cases move forward, those pending civil suits could grow a much more powerful set of legs.

TrueDelta has once again updated the results of its Car Reliability Survey. Based on over 15,000 responses for the first time, the new results cover owner experiences through December 31, 2009. Elsewhere, results continue to be based on an April 2009 survey. Thanks to these prompt quarterly updates, TrueDelta can provide reliability stats on new or redesigned models sooner, and then closely track cars as they age.

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We at TTAC pride ourselves as “equal snarkiness journalists”. We don’t care if you’re GM, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Fiat or anyone else. You try to pull the wool over our eyes, we’ll strike back with the truth you’re trying to hide. Likewise, not only are we journalists, we are also humans and as such we have our own brands and marques which we are partial to. Anyone who’s ever read my posts and articles (and not just to comment on my regional grammar and spelling) will know that I like, very much, Toyota and Jaguar cars. But that matters not a jot today. I am a blogger and an impartial one at that, so when I say this next article pains to me write, trust me, it PAINS me!

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Akio Toyoda is spending the weekend in Japan, being prepped for his appearance in front of the modern day version of the tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition, better known as a Congressional Hearing.

According to Reuters, and as suggested by TTAC,  Toyoda “is likely to undergo intense preparation. Toyota may hire lawyers to drill him with mock questions, one consultant said. A company source said it had not yet been decided whether Toyoda would speak in Japanese or English, but the company has already contacted some translation companies.”

The weekend drill was interrupted by the news that State Farm had informed the NHTSA as early as February 27, 2004, that the insurance company had five claims of unwanted acceleration in the 2002 Lexus ES 300 during the previous 12 months. Reuters broke the story, writing “the insurer said earlier this month it had contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in late 2007. However, prompted by the public interest in Toyota, the insurer reviewed its records again and has now found that it contacted safety regulators initially in 2004.” All hell broke loose … Read More >

Akio Toyoda is getting a crash course in cross-cultural studies, while he is preparing for his appearance on The Hill this coming Wednesday. Toyota already uncovered the time-tested Washington axiom: “We will fight it tooth and nail, but if we can’t stop it, we might as well dress for it.”

Saturday morning’s Nikkei [sub] greets its readers with the message that “Akio Toyoda’s appearance before Congress on Wednesday could be a chance for the embattled automaker to win back consumer trust in the U.S.”

Hedging a risky bet, the Nikkei adds: “But a poor performance could further undermine its reputation.” To avoid the latter, Toyoda is preparing to counter a three-pronged attack. Read More >

Maisara Gad writes in from Egypt to register his unhappiness with a recently purchased Lifan 520 which blew its gearbox at 70 km/hr.

Do you Call this a car ? Since i got this JUNK and i have been allways in problems .. the car is full of problems .. check out the web site i started to let the world see how junk car you sell to the public.. i wouldnt stop showing every one this junk car

Yes, well it is a 20-year-old Citroen ZX with the latest in Chinese styling and interior work. With that kind of pedigree, it’s hard to have too many expectations. Still, Chinese automakers who thought that success in foreign markets is as easy as improving crash test videos on Youtube should take note.

This was a rough night and day for Akio Toyoda, chief of the fishtailing Toyota. At around midnight, Tokyo time, the news reached Toyoda-sama that the Honorable Edolphus Towns (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, had formally invited him for a visit on the hill.

This had followed a Japanese version of the “he loves me – he loves me  not – he loves me.” It was made even more interesting by the botanical truism that the cherry blossom only has five petals to pick. Here, the chronicle of the deflowering … Read More >

At the Wednesday press conference in Tokyo, Toyota slipped in the remark that they “will more actively use on-board event data recorders, which can, in the event of a malfunction, provide information necessary for conducting such activities as technological investigations and repairs.”

This remark was widely overlooked. It should not have been.

Five days before, the Wall Street Journal had written:

“The safety problems that have engulfed Toyota Motor Corp. are focusing renewed attention on one of the most controversial components in an automobile: the black box. The box, officially called an “event data recorder,” is a small, square, virtually indestructible container akin to those found on commercial airplanes. Tucked inside the dash or under the front seats of most newer vehicles, it records vehicle and engine speeds as well as brake, accelerator and throttle positions and other data that can help determine the causes of accidents.”

If there would have been such a black box in the Toyotas that had crashed, it would have been easy to read out whether the foot was on the gas or on the brake. Guess what: Toyota has this box. It had been in many of the crashed vehicles, says the Wall Street Journal: Read More >

There is widespread public concern regarding reports of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota motor vehicles.  There appears to be growing public confusion regarding which vehicles may be affected and how people should respond.  In short, the public is unsure as to what exactly the problem is, whether it is safe to drive their cars, or what they should do about it.  To help clarify this situation, I am inviting you to testify…

House Oversight Committee Chair Edolphus Towns invites Akio Toyoda down to DC for an evening of under-oath testimony and light refreshments. According to the NY Times, Toyoda has said he “would consider” dancing the Potomac two-step “if he receives a formal invitation, which none of the committees have issued.” Consider yourself officially invited, Mr Toyoda. We’ll start making the popcorn.

Toyota is getting in big kuso (doo-doo) back home.

Up until now, the company could do no wrong. Largest company in Japan. Largest employer. Provided income to countless publishing houses that printed books about the Toyota Way.

Now, Toyota is being blamed for Japan’s falling reputation abroad, political difficulties, and just about everything including the bad weather (it snowed this morning in Tokyo,) and the falling GDP. Read More >

Public and politicians in Japan are not enthused about Toyota’s latest utterings, especially at yesterday’s news conference. “At home, fiercely loyal Japanese drivers are wondering how a firm with a deserved reputation for quality and reliability could allow substandard vehicles to slip through its vaunted quality-control apparatus,” reports the Christian Science Monitor from Toyko. The natives are getting restless … Read More >

To the victor go the spoils. Who will be the victors, and how much spoilage will be there in the protracted Toyota battle? Of course, this is all in the name of safety and the children, and any sales dislocations will be unfortunate collateral damage. Really.

As optimistic as Toyota might want to be, over the next few months, their sales will decrease. They already do decrease.  “Toyota’s US sales tumbled 16 per cent in January from a year earlier and are set to record another hefty fall this month,” reports Financial Times. Stoppage of deliveries and production, topped by a media onslaught, can have that effect.

Maybe Toyota’s ideas of an increased warranty and more incentives will work, long term, but in the short term, they’d better prepare themselves for negative numbers at the end of each month ahead.

As the first law of thermodynamics infers, energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely transposed. If customers are leaving Toyota, they don’t just disappear like Toyota‘s reputation for reliability China’s interest in US debt, they have to go somewhere. So where will they? Read More >

Do you think being the scion of a global brand is easy? Well think again, it’s hard work. No-one knows this more than Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford. So, when Akio Toyoda got thrown into a quality nightmare, Bill Ford empathised with the fellow (and currently not so great) grandson of Kiichiro Toyoda, the one who had founded Toyota. Bill feels for Akio, in the family way. Read More >

5pm in Tokyo. Toyota has a news conference. Somehow, they forgot to invite me. And I’m right here, in Tokyo. From our Ota-ku apartment, the fallout from the conference as it is reported in  Japanese and international media. Call it vicarious live blogging. Read More >

“Toyota is considering halting production at its factory at Burnaston, near Derby, because of collapsing sales amid the car company’s recall crisis,” London’s Times reports.

This comes on the heels of reported plans to shut two down two plants in the United States for a total of 14 days. According to the Times, Toyota is “reviewing production at its European factories.”

Toyotas recall led to “a collapse in sales for the world’s largest carmaker,” as the Times put it. Read More >