Controversy Continues to Brew for Toyota

The controversy continues to escalate for Toyota.

U.S. lawmakers say Toyota’s public statements about the adequacy of the recent recalls appear to be misleading.

Documents reviewed by congress indicate that the company consistently dismissed the possibility that electronic failures could be causing the unintended acceleration in their cars.

Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen…

[Joan Claybrook, President, Public Citizen]:
„It is now clear that Toyota intentionally tried to avoid doing these recalls on the sudden acceleration vehicles. And they did it for dollars and cents.“

The news follows the release of other documents over the weekend claiming Toyota saved $100 million dollars by getting US regulators to agree to a cheap fix for its accelerator problems. That has turned some of the focus onto the challenges of regulators.

Jonathan Linkov of Consumer Reports…

[Jonathan Linkov, Managing Editor, Consumer Reports]:
„What we are really seeing is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which also goes by NHTSA is severely underfunded. They really seem to be stymied by the fact that they don’t have the resources they need to go after these investigations.“

Toyota has recalled over eight and a half million vehicles around the globe and says several hundred thousand have been repaired so far.

The company released a video statement on Monday.

Executive Bob Carter…

[Bob Carter, General Manager, Toyota Motor Sales]:
„The conditions that have been reported throughout the media are extremely rare. But I understand the concern and we are working closely with our consumers to delivery their repairs quickly effectively and conveniently as possible.“

Toyota also revealed it has received a U.S. grand jury subpoena and an inquiry from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for documents related to the problems.

Separately, Congressional hearings will begin on the handling of the recalls on Tuesday.

Foto: NTDTV