are people now trying to put toyota in a bad light just because toyota is the biggest? or prius?

It is easy to be paranoid but this is well beyond what the skeptics have been trying to claim. One reason is the accident statistics never showed a gross problem. For example, last year the NHTSA listed the Prius as the second lowest insurance cost in its class of vehicles, Honda was least expensive.

My analysis of Prius 2001-07 fatalities showed the Prius had half the fatality rate, 0.64 fatalities per 100 million miles, of the USA fleet 1.37-1.51 over the same years. If the Prius had a significant run-away acceleration problem or braking problem, the numbers would be much higher. But the hypothesis that it might have been less without both may have merit.

BTW, the NHTSA study comparing accident injury counts has another problem in that it used both the Corolla and Camry as the reference gas-only vehicles to compare to the hybrids. What this means is:

• floor mat recall - Prius (yes), Corolla (no), Camry (yes)
• accelerator recall - Prius (yes), Corolla (yes), Camry (yes)

The primary requirements for any study is to hold as many variables constant and change just one and the NHTSA study suffers from more than one flaw in this area. For example, they failed to count the actual vehicle registrations, the population of Prius, Corollas, Camrys and other vehicles in the 12 states they studied.

Competitors are obviously willing to take any advantage they can ... with the exception of the some diesel companies. Obviously the $1,000 program from some GM and Ford dealers for switching from a Toyota may have some traction for a month or so. Then it too will fade.

Bob Wilson

 

Well the brown stuff has hit the fan this side of the pond regarding the Toyota recall on many of their models sold here. A couple days later a number of other manufacturers recalled many of their vehicles for similar issues. Perhaps they'd been waiting for someone to go first? The recall system in Europe is no where near as good as yours in the USA where manufacturers are made to recall by the NHTSA.


Oh no, just writing this whilst watching the TV news and have seen an article that Toyota is investigating a problem with the brakes on the latest Prius and is considering a recall. Yikes, if it's hit the news in the UK then there must be growing problems for Toyota. I shall give my dealer my two pence worth when I go for the 10k mile service in the next couple weeks.

 

Dutchman, perhaps you missed Malorn's appearance in the forum a few days ago. OF COURSE the trolls are out in force.

I for one am delighted. I have a series of stock buys at limits set at ever decreasing prices.

 

Yeah, the brake component I have heard about is made by a local US company. I suppose not impossible, but I doubt they sold ONLY to Toyota. Watch the trolls backpedal and downplay the issue when they figure out their preferred company has problems too.

 

I think the companies with recalls issued very shortly after Toyota were Honda with their Jazz model with a fire problem and Peugeot and Citroen (don't think you get those in the USA) have also now recalled many models in Europe for similar problems that Toyota have been experiencing.

Have they been waiting for someone to make the first move? Would Toyota have recalled these models in Europe if it hadn't been for the publicity in the USA? Would Peugeot and Citroen have moved if Toyota hadn't gone first?

You should be glad you have the NHTSA in the USA. We just rely on the manufacturer doing the right thing

 

People love to watch the big fall. Toyota is the giant in automobile manufactures, so everyone is lining up to kick them while they are down. It's normal human nature. It's the same reason much of the world enjoyed 9/11 when the twin towers were knocked down: "That will teach those arrogant bastards something..."

Tom

 

My conspiracy theory is that GM is behind all this. There are powers at work here far greater than what's perceived on the surface.

 

Good article.

 

That, Sir, I totally disagree in "much of the world enjoyed" 9/11 had occurred. A few sickos maybe, but certainly not the majority of humanity.

Back to the subject.

 

Lest we forget this quote:
"This opportunity isn't lost on the new president and his team. "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, told a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives this week."
In Crisis, Opportunity for Barack Obama - WSJ.com

There is more going on then we know.

 

"Much" does not imply the majority. Sadly, a significant minority of the world's population hates the U.S. with a passion. Also sadly, they enjoy anything that hurts the U.S., even if it involves the tragic loss of innocent life.

Tom

 

If you want to answer the OP's title question my opinion is I'm not into big conspiracy theories. Given the nature of media, I think what is happening to Toyota would happen to any automaker given similar circumstance. Should it happen? is a seperate debate.

Are their some competitors and some individuals that are probably taking a little extra enjoyment in Toyotas struggles? Sure. If you are a competitor, the truth is bad news for Toyota is good news for you.

Plus, if you never liked Toyota, or never liked Prius this is fertile ground to justify and glorify your dislike.

The media is predatorial but the truth is the auto industry is unique. It sells a product to the general public that can be a danger to the user and those around them. In simplistic terms it's a box we put ourselves into and that propels us at dangerously high speeds. We should be thankful that the media is so focused, even if it goes beyond the bounds. It holds the auto industry as a whole to the standards that actually make the product incredibly safe. When you think about the various skills of individual drivers, the varying driving conditions, and the sheer number of cars, suv's and trucks on the worlds roads I'd rather error on the side of an over active media, over scrutinizing.

IMO the auto industry must be held to higher standards than most other industries. Because things reverse themselves with the industry. The big picture might be as simple as a loose floormat or the dynamics between a pedal and a floormat. The big picture might be a 10 cent part within a acellerator pedal, that might only under very specific and rare circumstance cause sluggish pedal return. But the small "personal" picture is the day you hit the pedal and it doesn't return....and all the fallout and tragedy that can result.

I don't expect fairness, even objectivity from most of our media. Things snowball because among writers and producers you have different agenda's and even different skill levels. Some negativity gets perpetuated because unskilled or lazy writers/producers don't investigate beyond what they have already incorrectly heard from other misinformed or simply damaging sources.

Expect another round when hearings open in Washington. But eventually the media will feel they've picked this carcass clean. Then we can really evaluate the reaction of Toyota and the reality of the damage to the brand.

 

Time to look for great 2010 Prius deals.

Maybe even buy some Toyota shares if they dip below $50 (yea right

 

Veering off into the problems off mass media for a moment, much of the US either reads blogs that have definite bias if not propaganda intentions, or recycled news from one of the major outlets. I normally do not read our local paper, but when I did look I was surprised to see that *all* the national news was reuters, UPI, and AP.

 

That would make for sensational journalism, and lord knows the media is suffering for sponsorship. But nothing is made perfect 100% of the time, even during the past 200 years or 2000 years ...
Only thing that's changed is the speed of dissemination. Same amount of folks being robbed, same amount of do good'ers doing good, same amount of pervs & molesters, same amount of shoddy workmanship being done, same amount of morally bankrupt leadership, only difference is modernly we hear about it, and we hear about it quick.

You must not have seen the news reals comming out of many islamic countires. Not exclusively, but even 10 or 15% of over a billion is large amout of people.

 

Watch what happens when I post something on the big GM forum.

That's the Prius guy. Get him! I represent the success they no longer have.

Until recently, that was not the attitude on the blog for Volt. They were quite the opposite... open & constructive. Then sometime in the fall when both Toyota & Ford started really looking good with hybrid growth, the attacks began. I was labeled as a troll working for Toyota with the only purpose of causing harm to GM.

There are a few that do indeed want Toyota to suffer and will use fear to achieve it. After all, on the internet it's fairly easy to distort & amplifly.
.

 

I read that 3% of the pedals CTS produce are for Toyota. How about the 97%?

 

I had just arrived in the US after 6 years in the UK and 19 years in Greece on 9/11.

People may have expressed some vindication over the perceived injustices committed by the US, but other than a few bitter misinformed thousands, nobody celebrated the death of innocents of all faiths. Remember, suicide bombs included, acts of terror have killed more Muslims than Christians.

I think your analogy between Toyota hate and the world's reaction to 9/11 is at the very best simplistic.