politics

Toyota president decides to testify before U.S. Congress

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These stories change daily,its like"they seek him here they seek him there,they seek Toyoda everywhere" the next question is "will he or won't he".Please JT no more till next week .

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Bad choice.

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Problem is that investigators pointed to what they called "a growing body of evidence that neither Toyota nor NHTSA have identified all the causes of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles". The remedies deployed by Toyota, such as redesigning some floor mats and fixing sticky gas pedals, "have failed to solve the problem."

Attention is now being focused on the electronic throttle control system (ETC) to determine whether sudden acceleration may be attributable to a software design problem or perhaps to electromagnetic interference. The committee staff found numerous complaints made to NHTSA describing sudden acceleration that was not caused by either floor mats or sticky pedals. Committee staffers cautioned that their investigation remains preliminary.

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American Government Motors is trying to steal ETC technology now.

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sfjp330- Come on now, you know better than this-

"Problem is that investigators pointed to what they called "a growing body of evidence that neither Toyota nor NHTSA have identified all the causes of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles".

Those Toyota offcials you talk about are former NHTSA staffers ! No wonder

"neither Toyota nor NHTSA have identified all the causes of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles" !

As for Toyoda deciding to appear- No surprise, at least for some of us;

5 Days ago I posted this;

"08:05 AM JST - 13th February"

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict Akio toyoda will indeed "appear" before the Feb 24th congressional committee hearing- sheer speculation mind you, but I have a gut feeling he realizes he can't run anymore."

Ha-ha ! Hit it spot on ! This guy is toast ! Lets hope he prepares better for this grilling than Japan's Olympic team has prepared for Vancouver. Japan can't afford another "face-plant but skim" washout from one of it's representatives- Ha-ha !

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"American Government Motors is trying to steal ETC technology now."

Why bother ? It obviously doesn't work !

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Branded at 10:43 AM JST - 19th FebruaryThose Toyota offcials you talk about are former NHTSA staffers ! No wonder

This is not NHTSA staff. A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction.

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sfjp330; So what- your original post was a weak attempt to explain both Toyota and NHTSA staffers inability to find the problem with so many Toyota vehicles. I have simply pointed out that the NHTSA position has been compromised somehow, some say bribes, by former NHTSA staffers that now work for Toyota- This is the problem for Toyoda !

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Branded: Why don't you read the whole story. I mentioned "Committee staff". Put your glasses on.

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"Branded: Why don't you read the whole story."

I did- and I found the parts I highlighted and commented on to be inacurate- enough said- no need to be snide either- show some respect !

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Good on him. Regardless of whether the whole cover-up happened or not, going to US and testifying in front of the congress will help reassure American consumers that at least Toyota cares enough to send their main guy. If he didn't go, it would cost Toyota billions of dollars in lost revenue due to loss of confidence in the brand name considering that the media would not let this issue drop. This is what CEO supposed to act like - putting company's best interests ahead of his own pride. Probably the first smart move that Toyota made with regard to this PR nightmare.

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American gov't owns GM. Is there no conflict of interest in this hearing? They are going to poke and toss him around like a salad for middle America to eat. Its just a bogus show.

If Toyoda is strategic, he'll make some opening apology remarks and defer all answers to Inaba on advise of his lawyers.

At the end of the day, Toyoda is a rich mama's boy figure head who should not be involved in the company's leadership.

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the House oversight committee issued a subpoena for ‘‘all documents relating to Toyota motor vehicle safety and Toyota’s handling of alleged motor vehicle defects

The board of directors of GM is just trying to steal trade secrets from Toyota. This is a huge conflict of interest, and Toyota should sue them.

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Toyota provides thousands of Americans with jobs (and doesn't lay them off en masse when hard times hit) so I highly doubt that US government is going to drive them out. This is a legitimate inquiry into a problem that caused dozens of US citizens to die; Toyota is not treated more harshly than an American auto company would be in this case (there were hearings held for Ford when they've had problems). In any case, this is nothing compared to a crap-shoot that would happen/does happen when a foreign company messes up in Japan.

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Hopefully there will be no other snow storm preventing this session.

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The board of directors of GM is just trying to steal trade secrets from Toyota. This is a huge conflict of interest, and Toyota should sue them.

If they would want that, they would call the CIA.

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"The board of directors of GM is just trying to steal trade secrets from Toyota."

Actually that is Toyotas next issue- how to handle the various lawsuits against "them" for patent infringement. Toyota is being sued in both Florida, california, and also germany for having stole (?) or borrowed trade secrets.

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Toyota is being sued in both Florida, california, and also germany for having stole (?) or borrowed trade secrets.

Source?

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"Source?"

Google it yourself, it's an easy find.

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Google it yourself, it's an easy find.

It's not there. Please don't lie to us.

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This is bashing on Toyota by American Car companies in my opinion. Besides that, I would like to see the moderators keep people on task. So much in fighting not related to the thread. I used to own and drive a Chevy Corvair Convertible. Bring Ralph Nader in to solve this. I voted for him and he certainly can figure this all out.

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Let the teeth sucking begin!!!

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He will be given respect and the dignity due him. It is a good thing he is going and shows a man who cares.

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Yesterday, I found out there is more to this issue than meets the eye. This is REALLY intense.

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"The congressional hearings are about safety issues"

Says you ! I figure that an awful lot of time will be given to the overall "character" of the company. Make no mistake, dirt will be revealed as the gloves come off. These hearings can not appear to be "easy" on these Toyota execs- American citizens have been killed, I imagine family members of those killed and injured will be present to make sure the whole story comes out. Boy, I can't wait for this circus to set down !

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Says you !

This is the title of the hearing: ‘‘Toyota gas pedals: is the public at risk?’’ It's pretty clear what the topic is.

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Like I said- a lot of dirt will come out and it won't be restricted to Toyotas defective gas pedals. We are just days away from the first volley- and lets not forget there are more after this one. Does anyone know if this is being covered on a cable network here in the states- I'd love to watch.

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Good decision by Toyoda...a litte late (like Toyota has been in this whole mess), but this will make a good impression on his US customers..

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I have been given good info on the events that will unfold this year. One word is the source, but should that word be posted?

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Elephunk

Toyota does not employ any union members so the liberals in Congress would in fact love nothing better for them to go out of business in the states. Have the CEO's of any car companies before been demanded to testify to Congress about recalls before?

Those people in Congress pretty much own Toyota's competitor companies in America. I dont know why more people arent making the connection here.

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The UAW was essentially broken in the financial crisis. The labor discussion is a red herring....

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apecNetworks said, "Yesterday, I found out there is more to this issue than meets the eye. This is REALLY intense. I have been given good info on the events that will unfold this year. One word is the source, but should that word be posted?"

Out of curiosity. ApecNetworks, please don't leave a cliff hanger? It's like Naruto or Dragon Ball. :-)

There appears to be growing public confusion regarding which vehicles may be affected and how people should respond. In short, the public is unsure as to what exactly the problem is, whether it is safe to drive their cars, or what they should do about it,’’ Towns said.

Thanks to the media for reporting the facts/opinions as they see it to be the truth which leaves the viewers to be confused as to Toyota's first priority and second priority with regards to the "pedal" recall. Toyota missed chances to correct the mistakes of the media which allows the media to counter say what Toyota was saying and doing.

Toyoda is going and will end all speculating. From an observation point of view, either people love or hate Toyota. No matter what the outcome of the congressional hearings people are already biased from the beginning.

Toyota was the benchmark for GM and Ford when it came to quality cars. Ford is on par with Toyota for making quality cars by owning Volvo a European auto maker and partnership with Mazda.

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