Toyota official: 'We need to come clean'

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS

WASHINGTON (AP) - Five days before Toyota announced a massive recall, a U.S. executive at the company wrote in an internal e-mail: "We need to come clean" about accelerator problems, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

"We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet," wrote Irv Miller, group vice president for environment and public affairs. "The time to hide on this one is over."

The recently retired Miller wrote the Jan. 16, 2010, e-mail as Toyota officials were on their way to Washington to discuss the problems with federal regulators. On Jan. 21, Toyota announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles to address sticking pedals in six vehicle models.

"We better just hope that they can get NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to work with us in coming (up) with a workable solution that does not put us out of business," Miller wrote.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100407/D9EUG7J80.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Too bad the powers that be didn't listen to him.

[Ian David]

2. Toyota brake problems caused by Dolphin and Whale.

Fuck you, Dolphin! And fuck you, Whale!

[Atman]

3. But wait...where are all the Toyota defenders who flooded this board two months ago

as so many of us told them this was the case. NOOOOOOOO. Toyota is awesome, American cars are worse, you hate Japan...whatever. No. We just aren't stupid enough to believe Toyota's obvious bullshit claims about floor mats and sticky gas pedals. OOPS! We were right.

.

[blue_onyx]

4. It wasn't even two months ago

In the last week or two, the Toyota defenders are still trying to act as if nothing is wrong. Even Toyota itself admits there are quality problems with their vehicles and some on DU still insist it's all media hype.

[wilt the stilt]

5. it was the mats

yeah right

[4lbs]

6. If it was the floor mats, then it would have been a simple $20 fix by replacing the mats.

They would have told all their customers to replace their mats, and Toyota would send them checks for $20 to do it.

3 million customers x $20 = $60 million. That would have been a cheap fix.

[Jefferson23]

7. What a shame they ignored him. On another subject, have you seen

Toyota's new ad, the slogan is "Moving Forward." Are they kidding, they paid someone to come up with a slogan that
reminds potential buyers about the problem?

[Xenotime]

8. Hahahahahahahahahahhahaha!!

Oh that's brillant!! Couldn't happen at a better time to a worse company.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[teknomanzer]

9. They bought it from Obama...

No war crimes here -- moving forward.

[PSPS]

10. How about "We need to use mechanical accelerators."

[harmonicon]

11. +1 (nt)

[Sherman A1]

12. What was the saying?

It's the "Lie" that gets you.

[bizphilosophy]

13. Something is rotten in the state of Toyota

Toyota's vision/mission states that "respect for people" is a core value. By apparently withholding important safety information from its customers, there is a disconnect between what top management preaches and the reality of what middle management is actually doing.

How did this discrepancy come about? I discuss this in the following blog post.

http://www.philosophiesofbusiness.com/blog/2010/03/17/quality/troubles-in-toyota-city-2

[Romulox]

14. This is what's known in the biz as a "Party Admission". nt