Toyota Is Being Served Again
So when you thought things at Toyota are getting back to normal, what with NHTSA backpedaling on their ghost in the machine busting attempts, here comes a biggie: A federal grand jury in New York served Toyota with a subpoena, seeking information relating to defects in its steering relay rods. Fancy lawyers call that a subpoena duces tecum, and charge more. The Washington Post reckons this might “potentially widen an investigation that began with reports of sudden unintended acceleration.”
This is the second subpoena from a federal grand jury this year that landed on Toyota’s desk. Of course, Toyota “and its subsidiary are sincerely cooperating with authorities on the probe,” Toyota said in a statement. What else should they say?
According to the Post, this is most likely in conjunction with the NHTSA’s announcement in May that it was investigating whether Toyota had delayed telling authorities of a defect in their steering relay rods. It smells like another $16m ….
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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Compared to the half billion dollar fine Goldman Sachs just agreed to for misleading customers, Toyota is getting off cheap.
I guess how many of those recalls we are going to see this year. Someone with free time and Google can find gems like this one for example Cracked FJ Cruiser bodies. I saw the problem in person here (after having seen it in the interwebz like 2 years ago).
I just find it amazing that when I reported a GM recall, everyone chose to fudge the issue by asking why TTAC was reporting on recalls. Yet, come a Toyota recall, we get everyone curiously sticking to the topic in hand with very little deviation.... http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/gm-to-recall-1-3-million-cobaltg5s/
NHTSA paperwork glitches are not the same as design flaws. Toyota will dodge this bullet. Their buying demographic is more research based than others and their resale values kill the competition. Also, they've got more money than god to protect the Toyota brand. Which they do well. Remember, there never was a "Bill Heard" Toyota.