Toyota cited throttle issues in '07 (saved more than $100 million by deterring U.S. safety officials

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Detroit News

David Shepardson

Washington -- Toyota Motor Corp. officials bragged in late 2007 that they saved more than $100 million by deterring U.S. safety officials from ordering costly repairs to prevent runaway vehicles, e-mails obtained by The Detroit News show.

The communications suggest some executives knew of the situation nearly two years earlier than was acknowledged in a July 2009 internal company document that surfaced this year.

In that presentation, Toyota officials touted the $100 million they saved by agreeing in 2007 to recall just 55,000 floor mats that could have interfered with the gas pedal.

The revelation created a firestorm of outrage on Capitol Hill in the wake of Toyota's recalls of more than 6 million vehicles in the United States, mainly for problems tied to sudden acceleration. During a February Congressional hearing about the recalls, Toyota officials disavowed the 2009 document.



Read more: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100821/AUTO01/8210323/1148/Toyota-cited-throttle-issues-in--07

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Mods: I ran out of space on the title for the ending ].

[Wilms]

1. Eerily like Ford and the Pinto gas tank. nt

[Jackpine Radical]

3. I used to have a pinto.

I put on a bumper sticker that read "DANGER UNEXPLODED PINTO"

[Mopar151]

2. Toyota's been doing this for decades

The last Pinto was built 30 years ago

[boppers]

4. Latest ford recalls:

http://www.ford.com/owner-services/customer-support/recall-information

[Romulox]

5. Does it surprise anyone how much our most sensible posters lurrrve their Toyotas?

:shrug: