Toyota recalls SUVS, agrees to $16.4 mil fine, but denies coverup

"....but not admit wrongdoing" that's ok, its money that matters in Capitalist Corrupt Corporations and Toyoda boss has agreed to $16.4M fine !

"we'll pay it but we we won't admit guilt.."

Sorry but paying = admitting guilt in the court of public opinion, and since you are selling products that could kill people, public opinion trumps everything.

The more stuff like this happens, the harder it is going to be for toyota to ever get back to where it was.

Toyota’s unintended acceleration are serious safety issues. However, it is obvious that there is a political undercut to the whole debacle that is being amplified by the media that is clouding the true extent of the problems and resulting in even more irrational behavior than normal. Ford's Firestone tire debacle caused more deaths than Toyota’s unintended acceleration and brake problems. Ford handled their problem without the government feeling the need to pile on. Why is the government putting the hammer to Toyota? Politics, perhaps?

bamboohat is 100% correct;

"Sorry but paying = admitting guilt in the court of public opinion, and since you are selling products that could kill people, public opinion trumps everything."

And it's not only the "court of public opinion" as Toyota well knows. Paying this fine is akin to a guilty plea- throw in the millions of recalls and you can pretty much stick a fork in Toyota's "we done nothin' wrong-honest" nonsense. Toyota has no-one to try and fix blame to, unlike Bridgestone pointing fingers at Ford- and then they had to pay Ford for damages to their reputation as well as new tires- Toyota has no scape goat. They tried to blame drivers, then dealers- none of that worked- an aggressive American media knew a stinky story when they got whiff of all that sillyness. Now it's time to pay up- and this is only the start. With this admission of guilt I see the legal eagles biting at the bit- they're ready for some serious litigation- and the pot is a cool $25 billion dollars !

"Paying this fine is akin to a guilty plea- "

All evidence and statements to the contrary, one poster jumps in there with an unsupported statement. Thanks so much for sharing. Let's just ignore the fact that there is no due process here or litigation involved at all. Toyota could have even decided not to pay the fine, but they did.

"see the legal eagles biting at the bit- they're ready for some serious litigation- and the pot is a cool $25 billion dollars !"

There is another gem. As far as I know, there are about 41 civil suits against Toyota for damages attributable to acceleration, for which no engineer anywhere has been able to even show a mechanism. So this poster is on record as saying that these suits would have Toyota paying out about 800 million dollars to each plaintiff for a problem that nobody can even prove exists.

OK. I think if I were to speculate, I would say that it is people like this and statements like this that clarify to me whether Toyota is getting a fair shake. The news that they are paying the fine does not surprise me a bit, and their motives for doing so are much clearer to me when I see what passes for wisdom in the US these days.

5Speed -- nonsense. bamboohat is absoluetly correct, as his comment referred to the "court of public opinion". (You do know what is? Right?)In the U.S. the public knows that by paying the fine Toyota is basically admitting to the charges, and not having to agree in writing to the cover-up was just window dressing. Besides, oh great legal guru, any lawyer with even minimal liability experience would tell you that Toyota agreeing to the fine, even without the admission of guilt, is going to make it harder for them to defned themselves in the civil suits. Which means they knew that they were in trouble, and $16.4 million was the easiest course of action. Imagine the damage to their reputation if they had fought this, and the government unleashed all the evidence they likely have.

16 million is chump change. Toyota probably sees this money as money well spent. Paying up the fine will get them off the front pages (at least temporarily) and give them a little bit of space for maneuvering. Then again, this issue is not over by a long shot. Moreover, getting pillared by Consumer Reports is not going to help their case. Indeed, 16 million might just be the tip of a very big ice-berg.

The backdrop to this is a looming economic problem in the US. Toyota does need to backpedal, and they are. Time is needed to see the situation more clearly as more definitive info on the car problems are defined.

Toyota has recalled around 10 million vehicles, so at $1.64 each I think they will survive just fine, unless of course their profit margin per vehicle is really, really, really thin......

5speedracer5; "All evidence and statements to the contrary, one poster jumps in there with an unsupported statement. Thanks so much for sharing."

I do believe that poster is me ! The same person who accurately predicted- weeks before it happened now- that Akio Toyoda would indeed go to the US to attend the congressional hearings in person, even though he said he probably wouldn't. And I'm the same person who said that Toyota would pay this fine, again- weeks before this announcement- and contrary to Toyota's initial cool response, suggesting they may fight the penalty- Ha- They had no choice ! Like I said, the US government is giving Toyota a way out here, why can't some of you realize this ? And yes, I'm the same poster that clearly said that revelations against Toyota products would continue to increase- there is just so much dirt under their carpets that these kinds of recalls could go on for decades ! And finally, I am the same poster that accurately predicted an ongoing decline in Toyotas stock price- which has dropped from the $82 dollar level to the present $79/$78 range ! Now... if I do recall, 5speedracer5 argued tooth and nail about almost every prediction I made at the time- going as far to say that you'd be here calling out my name everytime Toyota stock jumped another 10 points- am I right ? Sorry 5speedracer5- but yer getting worked here ! You've let your emotions get the better of you to the point of making silly accusations against someone who's been spot on from day one. So here- another bone to chew on. I've said that Toyota is sitting on $24 billion dollars in ill gotten gains- that is "the" target for anyone filing a legal complaint against Toyota- and the numbers are double your posted 41 claims ! I predict a large portion of that $24 billion going to families of deceased and those crippled for life or seriously injured by Toyota- remember, we're talking "billions" now ! Care to take another emotional stab in cyberspace as to what you think the results will be ? Care to go on the record now ? Or wait till the results come in so you can "second guess-hindsight" your way around the discussion. Time to seperate yourself from the "people like this and statements like this" mentality that you so disapprove of- good luck.