Toyota hybrids still for sale, but does that matter?
Can't save Toyota's image nowWhat can you say but, WOW? Now that Toyota has suspended production on many important models, one wonders just how low Toyota's reputation will go. Down. Down. Down.
At least, for once, it's a good time to be a US automaker.
For fans of hybrid cars, however, this is terrible news. Despite the fact that Toyota is still selling all of its hybrid vehicles, there is no doubt that this recall and suspension is going to have an effect on the sale of all Toyota vehicles by association, including hybrids.
Next year, Toyota planned to double its hybrid production to one million hybrids per year. Will these plans survive? Can they?
More important, if Toyota has to scale down its hybrid plans due this suspension and this inevitable image hit, will another automaker fill the hybrid void? Unfortunately, I doubt it.
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, toyota
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:19 AM
12 Comments:
Huh? I guess I've been living under a rock. Actually I don't watch TV or read newspapers. So what's going on with Toyota? I heard about the carpet interfering with the gas pedal. But that seems like a simple fix. And I heard rumblings about braking problems. And I heard about the recalls for those and now the production suspension.
So is the braking issue the problem, more serious than previously though, or is something else wrong? Is is a small number of cars and they are being super cautious or is every Toyota failing?
Thanks for any help. If the people stop buying Prii and the used prices go down, I may see that as a buying opportunity.
correction I don't read newspapers about cars. I certainly read a lot of news about everything else.
:)
Actually - I think this may play in favor of Toyota.
You know the story.
If someone finds a problem on cars coming down the assembly line in an American plant and they stop the conveyors, they get fired.
If someone finds a problem on cars coming down the assembly line in a Japanese plant and they DON'T STOP the assembly line they get fired.
this one is an official recall.
What I'm curious about is if this is a design defect that was not caught in testing .. and is the result of usage... i.e. the cars don't malfunction when they are new.
my take is that toyota doesn't really know for sure what is going on. they suspect one particular part made by one particular supplier, but that might just be scape-goating, guessing, hoping, etc.
previously they've blamed pedal size, insecure mats, but there is a small amount of data that suggests that this could be an electronics problem.
if toyota is able to resolve this issue, confidently and quickly, then most problems should be mitigated.
so far, however, my impression is that this issue is going to drag on for a while.
you're right though, alcatholic, this could be a great buying opportunity!
Another interesting angle is the role of House Democrat Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak in this recall and suspension. HMMM. I'm sure Bart would like nothing more than to see Toyota destroyed.
Ultimately, the government asked Toyota to stop selling these vehicles, yet even the government has an angles, as it is heavily invested in the US auto industry.
Yet, thus far, from what I've read, there is no conclusive proof that there is actually anything wrong with these vehicles. Thus far everything is speculation.
Now, i'd bet there probably is a problem, but I wonder if GM were facing this problem, would the government's response have been so aggressive?
It certainly wasn't during the SUV rollover scandal during the early days of the SUV, when most SUVs should not only have been recalled, but sales should have been stopped.
Back then, however, politicians looked the other way.
The history of the auto industry is full of bean-counting coverups. How different, really, is this issue from past 'scandals' I wonder?
OK, that makes sense. These are actions about problems of a not totally certain nature, common with all technology. Bugs so to speak, that may be serious. But the government and media are piling on. I'll go back to ignoring this stuff.
Thanks!
:)
possibly piling on.
i don't want to be too assumptive just yet!
Lots of politics. The news I saw this morning said it was narrowed down to a part supplied by an American company. The only models they were stopping production on are those built in North America. Sounds like the boomerang of politics will come back at Michigan politicians if that's their game. How will it look if we try to make the same cars with the same plans and American workers can't match the Japanese? We're not talking GM union auto-workers either. We're talking engineers spec'ing parts and workers at the companies of suppliers. System failure.
indigo incarnates
I think Toyota will recover. After all, Ford is on a roll as far as quality stabilization is considered.
Nice review
interesting angle KP.
at the time of my comments, i hadn't yet heard the name of the company or where it was located.
and to top off the politics, the TEAMSTERS is setting up a huge protest against Toyota for the NUMMI plant closure, but i'm sure the timing is just coincidence!
It seems not too many folks are talking about this angle. While Toyota hybrids could have easily been subject to the recall, they happen not to be. This is obviously a good thing from the perspective of Toyota and owners Toyota hybrids, but from what I've seen not many, including Toyota Motors seems to be bringing attention to this. I think Toyota can benefit from the continued viability of hybrid models, but Toyota should be making efforts to keep the hybrids from becoming collateral damage. Check out this post that mentions a wikipedia article mistakenly listing the Prius as a model affected by the "stick" pedal recall.
http://www.toyotatruckfans.com/toyot-recall-not-hybrids
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