printThe excerpt is from “Toyoda Vs. Torquemada,” my latest WND.COM column:
“Mr. Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota, could have achieved the brevity much-admired in his culture (and mine) had he responded thus to the invitation to appear before the congressional committee investigating the recall of eight million of his vehicles:
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s invitation to Mr. Toyoda: ‘Dear Mr. Toyoda, we will be sitting between 11:00 AM and 5:00PM on February the 24th.’
Toyoda’s putative Reply: ‘Akio Toyoda likewise.’
To complete the one-two punch, Mr. Toyoda’s second in command, Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motors North America, ought to have sent each of his would-be Democrat and Republican inquisitors a short note, in large typeface, preferably with pop-up pictures.
In it, he ought to have reminded them that his company employs over 170,000 of their countrymen; has invested billions in capitalizing its factories, and is philanthropic at a time when Americans are desperate for charity.
… Mention the unseemly specter of a government—the owner de jure of General Motors and Chrysler—strong-arming the competition, his own Free-Market Motors.
A well-worded barb about the embarrassing, timely FBI raid on a Toyota auto parts operation in Detroit would have been apropos as well. Tell them, Mr. Toyoda, that you are doing business in a country where the competition is backed by the power of the police.
In closing, Toyoda might have reminded the overweening House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that his bosses are Toyota’s customers, and that it is to them alone that he’d be answering.
Back on terra firma, … ”
Read the complete column, “Toyoda Vs. Torquemada.”
And do read my libertarian manifesto, Broad Sides: One Woman’s Clash With A Corrupt Society.
The Second Edition features bonus material. Get your copy (or copies) now!
Update (Feb. 27): By the by, this household has never contemplated buying an American car. Gutless gas guzzlers, mostly. If the US made cars comparable in performance and economy to those of Toyota or VW—then sure. American cars are really ugly too, except for the Corvette and mustang. The first is a good car, except that it has some old-engine style oddity that requires yearly tweaking, or so I am told. The Mustang is completely gutless compared to this pocket rocket.
The federal government needs to accept some responsibility for this fiasco inasmuch as the issue of SUA was brought to the attention of the Department of Transportation by its own investigators almost a year ago and no action was taken. The issue could have been brought into light without all the sensationalism and demonization. Granted, Toyota has some explaining to do regarding its handling of safety recalls, but for the government to be aware of the situation (SUAs) and let it continue until it was politically advantageous to do so is tantamount to entrapment. The government has some complicity in this circus.
Ms. Mercer,
In the middle of Toyoda vs. Torquemada there is a link to a libertarian sounding title authored by Wayne Allen Root. Am I to understand you recommend the book or that the link was placed there by WND? [The latter.]
As to: “Toyoda was regal; his political tormentors rude”
I was for a long time inclined to think this was a matter of disparate cultures – crowding having formed in the Japanese an elegant politeness and the wide open spaces of America having allowed Americans to develop a practiced ornery independence. But there’s obviously much more to it than that, there must be, as I’ve never had so overwhelming a hankering to punch/slap someone as when I see these smug, arrogant, petulant, smarmy (SAPS for acronym buffs) pricks (not an acronym) during one of their inquisitions.
There. I feel better now… though not so good as if I’d actually done it.
If Toyoda took those 170,000 jobs and sent them to Mexico instead, who would blame him? They are not entitlements.
Your column on the inquisition of Toyota is right in line with my own thinking. How many recalls regarding disastrous American workmanship on cars have there been in the last 30 years? Admittedly, Toyota has a current problem, but everyone knows they built good cars, and that given the Japanese cultural outlook, they will fix the situation. And I will still buy them.
And I must say that the story of a woman whose car raced up to 100 mph, and her response being a phone call to her husband — which is a distraction for drivers at any speed — is preposterous. If she doesn’t know any better than that, she shouldn’t be driving. I know this may be callous, but had she died, she would be a prime candidate for a Darwin Award.
Jason Chaffetz is my congressman, and I like him and approve of his general political philosophy. However, it doesn’t mean that I approve of his joining in the feeding frenzy against a solid company doing business in America in good faith, and employing a bunch of people while the UAW destroys their competition. And Utah is a right to work state. This is unseemly of him in my opinion. Short sighted at best.
The idea behind all this is, no doubt, to wreck Toyota in America, force them to take federal money to survive, and then force the UAW on them as part owners and secret destroyers. This is the Obama way to prosperity and fairness for all.
The Japanese people on Okinawa and mainland Japan have wanted the US Bases gone for a long time. Time for Johnny to come marching home; I hope. Now who in Germany can we tick off?
. “I’m embarrassed for you, sir,” Mica shrieked, clutching his smoldering toupee.”
Ilana,
Where do you come up with this stuff? It is not only good, it is hilarious revealing, and informative too.
Hi Ilana,
What amazes me are the statistical anomalies evident here. For a
decade or two Honda and Toyota are on the top of the heap when it comes
to Consumer Reports ratings. This is for new cars and used cars and
then shazam! Obama buys into two rather ordinary (though unionized) car
companies where the ratings are concerned and suddenly the top two in
customer satisfaction and resale value have recalls coming out of their
ears. I was a GM guy. No more. Where are all the recalls for GM, Ford
and Chrysler? I guess consumers have to organize a hue and cry on their own? Also, don’t GM and Chrysler have bottomless pockets since Obama guaranteed backing their warranties? Where’s the Philadelphia lawyer lining up lawsuits to fleece Uncle Sam? This targeting of Honda and Toyota is a blatant payoff to unions and reeks of impropriety. The Obama admin is putting one or two companies (that it
doesn’t have an ownership interest in or receive political contributions) out of business via their own
regulatory power. Shouldn’t an independent counsel be appointed here?
If harming other companies improves their own stock price or market
share how can this be legal? Isn’t owning a business and regulating competitors in the same business mutually exclusive?
Regards,
Ken
Excellent article. It should appear in all news papers.
Ken, I think you’re right about the “crony” nature of this issue, and the inequity in re: Japanese auto companies v. American-gov. sponsored. One note about quality: My impression is that the Japanese, if they did not invent quality assurance, at least promoted it in a big way with their Honda and especially Toyota products. Then, from Ford, we heard, “Quality is Job One.” That only happened because it had to, because of Japanese competition, and not something they were up to on their own. Yes, I did buy a Ford car many years ago; and yes, it performed well over a long period of time…but I couldn’t help noticing that the Ford personnel who interacted with me were absolutely begging for top ratings in the “Quality” department, as if their very jobs depended on my giving them high scores. Hardly a scientific way to evaluate customer satisfaction, or the performance of an automobile.
Had a Ford which stunk, followed by a Chevy with numerous repairs, followed by a new Dodge which seemed to spend more time at the Dealers’ shop getting me my money’s worth out of the extended warranty that me driving it. 3 American cars lasting 110,000 agonizing miles. Then I had a Camry for 220,000 miles and now an Avalon going well at 160,000. So, 0.0001 Toyotas have a problem and the media induce a mass hysteria – not dissimilar than the “130,000 Pennsylvanians can only hope and pray” (Boston Globe headline) panic at the time of Three Mile Island when Jimmy Carter helped destroy nuclear power.
What is the Congress but a scheme by the parasites and the underperformers to knock down the competent? Was Toyota forcing anyone to buy their products? Were they mooching off the taxpayers?
Why is this a Congressional issue rather than a consumer tort issue for the courts?
As usual, a very good column.
Another great article, Ilana.
My taste runs to muscle cars. I won’t brag about mine, but I will say that the modern aluminum engines with fuel injection are capable of enormous power, great reliability, and good mileage too. The ho-hum, run-of-the-mill cars are viewed and sold as appliances, and are as exciting as top-loading washing machines. That includes all of them, no matter which brand (to me, anyway). Still, I wonder what’s gutless about the 400 to 500 horsepower Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers out there.
http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/4168/Autos
Consider the numbers: 34 people died in accidents blamed on the pedals. That’s a pretty small number, but maybe enough to raise some concerns… until you realize that’s the total number of fatalities since 2000.
Toyota has recalled more than 8.5 million vehicles in the U.S. Assume the owners drive those vehicles 10,000 miles a year (12,000 is probably more accurate, but 10,000 is a conservative estimate… and a factor of 10 makes the math simpler). That means Toyotas are logging more than 85 billion miles a year in the U.S. – 850 billion miles during the last 10 years.
So divide 34 deaths into 850 billion miles, and the odds of a Toyota owner having one of these accidents is one in 2.5 million… That’s a random event.