We are in the midst of a new era in America. Actually, it’s a rehash of the worst of the mid 20th century.
Just like Pan Am, who was the favoured corporation by the US government and was almost given a monopoly, the government-owned motor companies are no longer having to compete with Toyota the old fashioned (honest) way. The American auto industry, due to the incentives created by state-ownership and protection, now wages its battles just like politics.
The fact that major media corporations are participating in the mud slinging against Toyota should make anyone question their independence. One man with one claim where no one was hurt should not be national news and should definitely not be the cause of Federal probes into an industry. The headline shows the lunacy: “Runaway Prius Tale Prompts New Probe.” A tale is prompting a) Federal involvement and b) front page news. This is insane!
Peter Roff of US News and World report, had this wisdom:
Whatever the reality concerning the performance of the Toyota vehicles, the investigations are themselves riddled with conflicts of interest. Thanks to President Barack Obama’s multibillion-dollar bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, the agencies looking into the safety of the Toyota fleet are part of the same U.S. government that owns large chucks of the same GM and Chrysler that have been losing market share to Toyota and the other Japanese automakers for decades.
…In sum, the U.S. government’s ownership stake in GM and Chrysler makes it nearly impossible for it to act impartially in its investigation of Toyota, whose current difficulties have given U.S. manufacturers a temporary image boost. It’s an aspect of the story that is at least as worthy of investigation as anything anyone is saying these days about the Camry.
But I hope that people will think beyond Toyota and consider the underlying principles here. When the state and corporations get in bed, it’s inevitable that the battle moves from the economic into the political. It is also wise to note that from the political, the next step is often to the military (as the arm of force for the political establishment).
Also learn this (if you haven’t already): you cannot trust a word the media says.
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The bottom line is that Toyota cars are still having dangerous problems and they had to be forced into the recalls. Toyota has hidden its recalls in the past using various strategies but sooner or later it all catches up to you. You reap what you sow.
Its not so easy being the largest automaker.
Quality is a funny perception. When a manufacturer makes widgets there is an acceptable amount of defects. Lets say 10 widgets per 1000 made. If your only making 100000 widgets you would have 100 bad widgets and they might be hard to notice, easy to replace and not worthy of a recall. But if you make 10000000 widgets you will have 10000 bad widgets. No longer easy to hide and the media finds out about it. Multiply this by the number of parts in a car and you can see why the largest automakers have quality issues if they start cutting corners like Toyota has. One worker in Japan worked himself to death at 30 years of age recently. Google it.
The media is treating this no differently then how it treated Ford when it had Bridgestone Tire problems on their Explorers back around 2001.
The problem was traced back to one factory which had been bought by the Japanese. The workers were out on strike as the Japanese were trying to bust the union and the bad tires were made my scab labor.
George, apart from the plain silly simplistic jingoistic arguments you make – the fact that you are posting from inside Ford headquarters I think lends even more credence to my argument.
George, the fact that Toyota has managed to eliminate unions is probably the number one reason why their product is durable, affordable and they don’t require bail-outs. Most recalls are secondary to problems with government safety ratings, which, of course, doesn’t mean a car is actually safe.
Maybe, just maybe, if the Big Three quit making crap and quit over-paying their workers, they’d actually have the ability to make a car people want to drive. You know, without begging for money from uncle Sam from a private jet.
I own a Toyota car, and haven’t even checked whether it is part of the recall. I am still far more likely to be killed by a fellow driver behind the wheel of a perfectly operating Ford SUV than from a malfunctioning accelerator. 43,313 people died in 2008 due to automobiles. How many of those deaths do you think were due to Toyota malfunctions? Driving is a massively dangerous activity, and these defects must have been pretty slight to have such a small impact.
Especially not when you are dealing with a national government as a competitor. Ford is probably the only US auto maker I would even consider buying from after the scam run by the other two to steal my money.
I’ve yet to see strong evidence that Toyota is cutting corners, but if they are then they will see their market share decrease, just as US auto makers saw theirs virtually disappear due to providing crappy quality and high prices.
Interesting. Seems that the problem was due to hiring insufficiently experienced staff, in the process proving that the union didn’t need government protection. If all skilled staff belong to the union, they have negotiating power independent of government controls. I’m not at all clear what that has to do with Toyota though. Was this an attempt at racism against the Japanese?
Possibly the most uninformed piece of garbage I have ever read, remove your head from your ass, methane is deadly.
Wow, Randy, such deft comment skills! If you want to troll, at least troll on topic instead of explaining your personal experiences of head-in-ass syndrome.
Ornot wrote: “Maybe, just maybe, if the Big Three quit making crap”
Ford’s cars are just fine now. They are still suffering from perceptions created by quality problems of a decade ago.
Anyway, I’m a Honda guy, so none of this matters to me.
Amen to the main post. And with Jew, very true, I’m a Cadillac rider, true enough. Momma drives a Chevy and daddy drives a Ford. The Toy mess just doesn’t matter to me, and I’m SO TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT IT. And tired of pondering how much of my money is going into the auto industry because people are so scared of death and mutilation. Oh, wait, that hits on health care, too. Crap.