Calls for Toyota Investigations Grow as U.S. Government Says Company Was Forced Into Recalls

The crisis surrounding the Toyota sticky pedal recall is running dangerously close to being considered a full-fledged scandal, as increasing calls for investigations into the whole fiasco are growing among the public, the media, and most importantly, the U.S. government. The latest round-up of the current situation is as follows:

• NHTSA Had to Force Toyota to Issue Recalls, Says Transportation Secretary: Despite the recent public relations spin by Toyota trying to paint the recalls of nearly 5.3 million vehicles as an action Toyota felt it needed to take in order to safeguard their customers, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has said that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) essentially had to force the company to issue the recalls over the past several weeks. "Since questions were first raised about possible safety defects, we have been pushing Toyota to take measures to protect consumers. While Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point," LaHood said in a statement. "We're not finished with Toyota," he added, saying that the department is "continuing to review possible defects and monitor the implementation of the recalls." The Detroit News reported that the NHTSA is even considering imposing civil penalties against Toyota for its conduct on the matter, after top NHTSA officials flew to Japan in December to meet with top Toyota executives about the possibility of recalls. LaHood said "DOT officials flew to Japan in December to remind Toyota management about its legal obligations and followed up with a meeting at DOT headquarters in January to insist that they address the accelerator pedal issue."

• U.S. House Committee Questions Toyota's Explanation of the Fix: The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee has asked Toyota to clarify comments made on Monday (1 February) by Toyota Motor Sales president Jim Lentz on "The Today Show," claiming that his statements contradicted earlier reports to Congress on 27 January about the causes of the unintended acceleration. When the committee staff "inquired whether Toyota could be certain that floor mat entrapment and sticking accelerator pedals fully explained reports of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, the Toyota officials present responded that causes of unintended acceleration are 'very, very hard to identify,'" the letter written to Lentz said. "Furthermore, at that meeting, Toyota officials indicated that sticking accelerator pedals are unlikely to be responsible for the sensational stories of drivers losing control over acceleration as their cars race to 60 miles per hour or higher." The committee then noted in the letter that Lentz said on "The Today Show" that Toyota has "studied the events of unintended acceleration, and that [the company] is quite clear that it has come down to two different issues," one dealing with accelerator entrapment by the floor mat and one to do with a faulty mechanism causing sticking. The committee then said "if Toyota now believes that sticking accelerator pedals are responsible for incidents of sudden, high-speed acceleration, we ask that you provide the committee with any new evidence that became available to Toyota following the briefing."

• Top U.S. Toyota Executive Inaba to Testify Before Committee: Two hearings have been scheduled by the House of Representatives to investigate the Toyota recall crisis, with the first now being scheduled for 10 February, which will feature top U.S. Toyota executive Yoshi Inaba. Inaba is the president of Toyota North America, and he will be answering questions by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the hearing which was originally scheduled for this week, but was moved to accommodate LaHood's schedule. The second hearing will be on 25 February, held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Toyota appreciates the opportunity to inform the committee about matters related to the recalls and our efforts to address the situation for our customers," said Toyota spokesperson Martha Voss. "We are cooperating with the committee and will, of course, honor the request for Mr. Inaba to appear." Also scheduled to testify are NHTSA Administrator David Strickland and LaHood.

• Co-Founder of Apple Says Unintended Acceleration is Software Issue: Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of consumer electronics giant Apple, has said that he believes the unintended acceleration issue in Toyotas is a software-based issue, and has been attempting for three months to get government attention focused on the problem. "I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn't get recalled," Wozniak said during a speech on Monday at the Discovery Forum 2010. "The new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again safely." Toyota has insisted that the problem with unintended acceleration is a mechanical one only, and that exhaustive testing has failed to turn up any scenario that could cause unintended acceleration via the car's onboard throttle-by-wire controls.

• Toyota Dealers Inundated with Consumer Calls for Countermeasure: Toyota dealers around the nation are being flooded with calls and customers concerned about receiving the sticky pedal countermeasure for their Toyota vehicles. Earlier in the week, Toyota had announced that dealers would be receiving parts any day, and that the repair itself would take just 30 minutes, which has led some dealers to experience over 100 calls a day from customers wanting details. "We're a little concerned about the volume," said Tamara Darvish, vice-president of Darcars Automotive in Silver Spring, Maryland, who estimated as many as 13,000 customers might bring their vehicles to the dealership for the pedal repair. Many dealers will be extending service hours or staying open around the clock in order to try to accommodate as many customers as possible.

Outlook and Implications

The U.S. government seems to be none too pleased with Toyota, as evidenced by LaHood's very stern comments towards the company's recent spin on the decision to recall the 5.3 million vehicles. On one hand, it can be understood why a company would resist having to issue a recall for unintended acceleration, especially Toyota, as the resulting effect on the company's sterling quality reputation would be exactly what it has been: damaging. On the other hand, if the coming hearings really start to publicise that Toyota had to be forced into issuing the recalls, it will play out very unfavourably for the Japanese automaker in the public eye. February is shaping up to be a very difficult month for Toyota, with the slow resumption of sales not expected until the last half of the month, and two different government hearings on the company's safety issues that are sure to draw unwanted media attention as well.

The question of whether or not the unintended acceleration issue is software related or mechanically caused is not going away, either, but the scenario that Steve Wozniak outlines in his Toyota Prius is not necessarily related. IHS Global Insight experienced this very issue as well, in a press fleet Lexus HS250h hybrid sedan similar to the Prius that Wozniak mentions. The unintended acceleration was not a defect, but a mistaken use of the cruise control's activation switch that is used to set a speed via a digital output instead of merely holding down the button until the desired speed is achieved. If operated as a normal cruise control switch, by the time the car arrives at the desired speed, the cruise control computer has been increasing the set speed to well above what the driver wants, requiring the driver to then apply the brake and deactivate the system. It is a counterintuitive system that requires some learning curve to operate, but it is likely the scenario that Wozniak is facing with his Prius as well.