Toyota Still Mad At David Gilbert, Wants Apology

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

At today’s annual stockholders meeting in Toyota City, Toyota wrapped up most of the SUA and recall troubles that had plagued the company last year. Says The Nikkei [sub]: “When asked about the fallout from the recall of millions of vehicles over the past couple of years amid quality concerns, executive vice president Shinichi Sasaki thanked the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for clearing Toyota of some of the most serious allegations about defects in its vehicles.“

However, there is one man Toyota still holds a grudge against:

Sasaki talked about unfounded claims about problems with Toyota’s electronic throttle control. By name, he mentioned Southern Illinois University engineering professor David Gilbert. Gilbert starred in the now infamous ABC/Brian Ross freak-show, which quickly was debunked as fakery.

Gilbert also provided testimony in congressional hearings and said that certain Toyota vehicles could be susceptible to unintended acceleration due to glitches in the cars’ electronics. Research by NASA could not find any glitches, and Toyota was exonerated.

David Gilbert could set the record straight with a very short sentence: “I’m sorry.”

“Mr. Gilbert has yet to apologize to us, which is extremely regrettable,” Sasaki told the assembled shareholders.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • NormSV650 NormSV650 on Jun 17, 2011

    It did sum up the 2010 midterm elections that government was here to help. Thanks Tea Party. But then the recalls continued almost weekly for most of the following year. Then to find out Toyota contracted to suppliers or the same companies everyone else uses here in the states. Then to find out NHTSA and Toyots share employees. Then memos of how much they saved by avoiding recalls. Just like the internet bubble, housing bubble, and stock market bubble, the Toyota bubble has popped. Even Consumer Reports would not approve with a blind eye.

    • Sitting@home Sitting@home on Jun 18, 2011

      Hmmm ... Toyota may make Maytags on wheels, but the latest Consumer Reports survey has nothing but glowing praise for them ... "The major Asian brands are still doing well overall. All models from Acura, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Scion, and Toyota have at least average predicted reliability." "Despite recent safety recalls, Toyota models remained among the most reliable and earned top scores in five vehicle categories" There's plenty of reasons I wouldn't buy any new Toyota product, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one to someone else.

  • CarPerson CarPerson on Jun 18, 2011

    To Toyota: BITE ME! Professor Gilbert saw the signal and witness signal were parallel straight lines with a wide tolerance before an error was triggered, the poorest safety design possible. You hit the main stream media with how "robust" the design was, a flat-out, in your face lie. Prof. Gilbert apologize??? BITE ME!

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    • CarPerson CarPerson on Jun 19, 2011

      @Robert.Walter You view the safety net independent of the High Wire; It must stand on it's own. I did not even mention the wires and circuit board traces were parallel and adjacent, creating a fertile ground for "tin whiskers", debris, or moisture to short the circuit. The failure mode sends the accelerator to full throttle in an instant and keeps it there. WTF! Toyota is front and center how NOT do design a safety circuit. Many posters described how other auto manufacturers designed theirs, perhaps explaining their very low number of stuck-throttle incidents. Toyota: Your problem was not Prof. Gilbert. It was your supposedly skilled engineers signing off on a horrid safety circuit design.

  • Corky Boyd Corky Boyd on Jun 19, 2011

    It was important to the trial lawyers that the SUA was caused by electronic problems, not mechainical ones. Mechanical ones are relatively easy to prove or disprove. Having an it an electronic glitch would open the door for damages for every single-vehicle fatality. The technical analysis by TTAC of the accelerator sending unit during the dustup was simply outstanding. It blew Gilbert's thesis totally out the window. My personal opinion is the whole blow up over Toyota's SUA was cooked up at DOT to pressure Toyota not to close NUMMI Motors in Fremont CA. Not only was NUMMI the highest cost plant in Toyota's stable, but being organized by the UAW, it was a potential Trojan horse that could force the organization of all Toyota plants without a vote. Despite some missteps in addressing the SUA, Toyota stood firm on NUMMI. Bravo Toyota.

    • See 1 previous
    • CarPerson CarPerson on Jun 19, 2011

      Sorry, drinking the Kool-Aid and throwing eggs at Prof. Gilbert doesn't change the circumstances. Prof. Gilbert's observations were and continue to be dead correct. Whether or not that accident or any other accident was caused by what Prof. Gilbert observed as severe, fatal defects in the design is a different question to be answered by different experts. As a matter of fact, the knowledge the investigators employed used Prof. Gilbert's observations... Professional safety experts have repeated stated what he observed is correct and his opinion of the robustness of the design is also correct.

  • Don't Don't on May 15, 2023

    Sitting@home Hyundai's consumer reports ratings aren't average or above. CR doesn't even use the rating terminology "average". Since 2018 it's Poor Fair Good , Very Good, Excellent.

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