Toyota's Fall From Grace
Toyota has been making headlines--the wrong kind of headlines. As a former Toyota Owner, I am quite shocked at what has transpired. I am not here to talk about what happened, who did what to whom or what Toyota may have done differently. There has been enough discussions on it already. I am confident, though, that Toyota will be back stronger than ever because it is an Engineering Company with great products and great people. That's what will sustain it through these tough times.
After a rather bumpy start, Toyota seems to be getting it now. Based on an assessment I did recently, Toyota has recalled close to 10,000,000 cars for various issues. What I find disturbing is that the United States Government seems to have known about these issues as far back as 2002. There was even a petition of sorts filed that was rejected by the National Traffic Safety Adminstration. There have also been reports about complaints filed in 2004, 2006 & 2008. Those were the Bush Adminstration years where Social Darwinism was the prevailing attitude and Government was the enemy.
The disregard shown during the past 8 years is sickening and irresponsible. America does not have a British-Style Government to recall former officials unless they have been indicated in a criminal complaint or are called into court on a Civil Matter. If it s a civil matter, it is defended by the Government and in many instances, the Government prevails because the judge will just throw the matter out. The investigation to be conducted by the U.S. Congress will hopefully shed some light on another misguided legacy of the Bush Adminstration.
Although I am not sure that the Congress will uncover anything new, at least they are going to be looking at this to understand what happened. I will be awaiting this report and look forward to virtually attending some of the hearings to understand what could possibly have been the excuse for not having investigated this.
This is as bad as Maddoff. Anyone who does not treat this in this fashion does not really understand the profound implications this represents. It will take a long time for Toyota to recover from this.
After a rather bumpy start, Toyota seems to be getting it now. Based on an assessment I did recently, Toyota has recalled close to 10,000,000 cars for various issues. What I find disturbing is that the United States Government seems to have known about these issues as far back as 2002. There was even a petition of sorts filed that was rejected by the National Traffic Safety Adminstration. There have also been reports about complaints filed in 2004, 2006 & 2008. Those were the Bush Adminstration years where Social Darwinism was the prevailing attitude and Government was the enemy.
The disregard shown during the past 8 years is sickening and irresponsible. America does not have a British-Style Government to recall former officials unless they have been indicated in a criminal complaint or are called into court on a Civil Matter. If it s a civil matter, it is defended by the Government and in many instances, the Government prevails because the judge will just throw the matter out. The investigation to be conducted by the U.S. Congress will hopefully shed some light on another misguided legacy of the Bush Adminstration.
Although I am not sure that the Congress will uncover anything new, at least they are going to be looking at this to understand what happened. I will be awaiting this report and look forward to virtually attending some of the hearings to understand what could possibly have been the excuse for not having investigated this.
This is as bad as Maddoff. Anyone who does not treat this in this fashion does not really understand the profound implications this represents. It will take a long time for Toyota to recover from this.
Mike Pouraryan
