March sales DOWN for Toyota brand cars

"Toyota brand cars, which make up nearly half of all company sales, saw a 2.9 percent drop to 103,888 units." (Not that mainstream media would bury this whoppin' one line disclosure, but to find it, ya gotta scroll down to about the 14th paragraph.) 

I figured all was not well for the Recall King's March sales when I didn't see a barrage of blaring headlines about the numbers. Kinda embarrassin' - 'specially that 16 percent drop in Prius sales - for those who claimed the public wasn't payin' any attention to Toyota's recent guilty plea to a federal criminal charge, its admissions of wrongdoing, and the $1.2 billion payola to the feds lest things get even worse. If any model has made headlines regarding sudden unintended acceleration, it's the much ballyhooed Prius.

Despite mainstream media efforts to whitewash the Recall King, focus on floor mats, sticky gas pedals, and driver error - while ignoring electronic issues - the public may be catchin' on to the scam. As I emphasized in my immediately preceding post, word has leaked out about electronic issues. The Oklahoma case, where 150 feet of skid marks from the plaintiff's tires corroborated the findings of a world-renowned embedded systems expert and put the Recall King in settlement mode, has not been ignored. Michael Barr's peers continue to do a superb job of publishing his findings in trade journals, amidst support from bloggers and consumer advocates. The Internet can be a powerful tool for exposing facts. Mainstream media's news blackout didn't go as planned. 

Not that everyone is now aware of Michael Barr's findings, but people are hearing about them, and government's mainstream media stooges - wary of egged faces - are nervously dropping inane hints about the involvement of electronics. Consumers may be starting to realize that Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Department of Justice are little more than mouthpieces for crooked corporations. Stay tuned as the gang faces further public scrutiny, not only about Toyota, but also GM.

As things now stand, informed consumers are more justified than ever before in not trusting Toyota and wondering if there's a problem in the Recall King's electronic throttle control. Nobody should be surprised that Toyota brand cars has suffered a decline in sales, especially since complaints of sudden unintended acceleration are continuing.

Frankly, I won't believe regulation of the auto industry has changed for the better until folks are reimbursed for all those engines that disintegrated in MR2 Spyders.

Latest Toyota recall shows true colors

Moody's Investors Services' recent analysis of  Toyota puts things in post earthquake perspective for Japanese automakers:  Nissan considered for a credit upgrade, Honda viewed as stable, and the Recall King placed under review for another drop in credit rating.  "The rating agency also said that the company's high level of incentive spending and its declining share in major markets like the U.S. indicated that consumer perceptions of the company's quality may have weakened compared with some of its competitors." 

Speaking of consumer perceptions, Toyota's continuing lousy attitude toward cusotmers was epitomized by their latest recall.  Thanks to a whistleblower -  supported by his colleagues - media exposed several defects, including a brake problem.  Then the Recall King acknowledged the defects but refused to issue a recall until an outraged public changed Toyota's mind.

Amidst Toyota's handwringing public apologies and promises to put more emphasis on customer satisfaction, here's yet another example of actions speaking louder than words.  Evidence that Toyota has yet to learn any "big lessons," and will keep trying to get away with whatever it can, profits before people.  As one consumer wrote, "Does it mean that the safety of the Vietnamese people is not a matter of concern to Toyota Vietnam? They know (about the flaws) but they've decided to ignore everything.”  Furthermore, based on the whistleblower's allegations, Toyota has knowingly sold some 60,000 of these defective vehicles.

The whistleblowing and public protests coincide nicely with Moody's analysis of a company that obviously has a long way to go when it comes to building trust.  No surprises for me.  Its the Toyota I've come to know and expect. 

Update 4/16/2011 - The scandal has now worsened, prompting a recall of nearly 66,000 units, the largest ever in Vietnam.  This is even more than the whistleblower revealed had been sold.  And apparently the Recall King still doesn't get it.  Toyota apologized for the recall but neglected to apologize for not listening to warnings from their whistleblowin' engineer and his colleagues.

Update 4/22/2011 - Whew.  Its hard to keep up with all the Toyota recalls.  Their "latest" is now a whoppin' 330,000 units for an airbag defect.  RAV4s, Highlanders.  Oops - yesterday (4/26/2011) Toyota announed a 51,000 unit recall of Tundra trucks re a drive shaft defect.     

Update 4/27/2011 - Top Gear auto news has asked Toyota how the Vietnam recall will affect Thai-built Fortuners sold in the Phillipines, but the Recall King has yet to reply.

Update 6/19/2011 - Amidst Toyota's adamant denials of the obvious, the Recall King has now taken action against the whistleblower: http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20110614123057.aspx

Prius defect shows contempt for customers

No wonder Toyota's little Glitch-mobile has been unseated by Honda's Fit for the top spot in Japan.  Part of the recent parade of Prius defects includes a troublesome tendency for the headlights to malfunction.  Just imagine.  There you are, goin' down the road at night when the thing suddenly accelerates, brakes fail, and the headlights go off.  Okay.  All three at the same time might be unlikely.  Point is, Toyota's glitches seem to be catchin' up with the Recall King's sales, even on home turf.

But the finer point goes beyond lousy products.  Toyota refuses to get it right when it comes to customer relations.  Bad headlights - obviously bad based on the number of complaints to NHTSA - become the subject of a class action lawsuit instead of a good faith effort on the part of Toyota to correct the problem.  Based on my experience with the Recall King, I wasn't surprised that customers were hassled at dealerships.  Oh what a feeling...

Ah, the Toyota Way.  Force folks to sue, then work out a settlement whereby Toyota avoids admitting that there was a defect.  A jury never rules on the issue, and Toyota avoids a recall.  Slick stuff.  "Number One for a Reason" indeed.
http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20110121/BUSINESS02/101200355/-1/RSS04      

Toyota = The One You Ought To Avoid

At least Toyota makes a great acronym.  In their case, "The One You Ought To Avoid" is just about as good as acronyms get.  Today's recalls, totalling out at 1.7 million units, make over 12 million units recalled since 2009, and a whoppin' 27.6 million since '05.  Referrin' to Toyota as the "Recall King" is apropos, but the acronym gets down to the ol' bottom line when you factor in lousy dealerships, blame-the-customer attitudes, racketeering charges, a federal grand jury look see, three record setting government fines in one year, and a judge ruling that allegations of fraud are sufficient enough for an avalanche of lawsuits to proceed.  There's more, but whew.  That's enough.

U.S. sales have plunged, global production is droppin', and the Recall King has nobody to thank but itself.  There's an old sayin', Toyota, that "the customer is always right."  Ignore it at your own peril.  Worse yet, remain aloof.  Act like customers aren't too bright - regardless of evidence to the contrary - and wait for problems to just somehow disappear.  Then, to really ice up the cake, get charged with tryin' to keep stuff quiet.  See what happens.

As "The One You Ought To Avoid" stews in its own juice, consumer advocate Charlene Blake put it quite well:  "Didn't its 'Mama' teach it that what goes 'round comes 'round?!? Tsk, tsk, Toyota!  You should have seen it comin'!!"

Toyota Prius best coined "GLITCH-mobile"

It was a cute little marketing ploy - presented not long before the North American International Auto Show - for GM's CEO to refer to Toyota's Prius as a "geek-mobile," touting it as no match for GM's new Volt.  Gee.  I certainly hope GM's new product is better than the Prius.  Fact is, it wouldn't have to be all that great.  A better nickname for Toyota's little wonder car would be "glitch-mobile," underscored by Toyota's latest Prius recall:  650,000 units to repair poorly designed water pumps, even though the Recall King says this wasn't actually a recall, blabbering something about customer satisfaction.  Regarding "customer satisfaction," its interesting that the models with the botched water pumps are '04 thru '07.  Given currently-charged-with-racketeering Toyota's reputation for being a bit slow to acknowledge defects, I can't help but wonder how long Toyota has known about these problems. 

Lookin' over my blog posts concerning the Prius, its no wonder the things are not sellin' as well lately.  Glitches galore.  Acceleration problems, braking problems, headlight problems, and the list continues right up to the defective water pumps.  Seems Toyota's discounts aren't workin' too well either...

Its a shame the media spotlight somehow keeps missin' all those engine failures in MR2 Spyders.  Two major car clubs have been screamin' about the situation for years, along with consumers posting complaints all over the Internet.  Wonder what other problems Toyota has been having - such as continuing problems with oil sludge - that the media has chosen to ignore?

Bad fix for recalls has Toyota spinnin'

Apparently, Toyota is having trouble repairing their recalls.  I guess that's to be expected when an automaker has over 11 million in one year, but in Toyota's case, its the company's response that should raise eyebrows. 

Toyota seems to have a problem with admitting a problem.  Even when said problem is obvious and verifiable.  Hence, when word got out that their technicians had botched accelerator repairs on recalled Camrys and Avalons, Toyota dug their heels in, and instead of simply acknowledging the situation, attempted to "spin" the story, offering the kind of sheer blabber that insults people's intelligence.  A prime example of the sort of thing that's been a big contributor to Toyota's continuing downfall, especially in the U.S. market.

Here's the deal, Toyota.  The kind of double-talkin' nonsense you've so blatently displayed is prima facie evidence that your company hasn't changed and has no intentions of doing so.  Listen up, currently-charged-with-racketeering Toyota:  Honesty is still the best policy.

Botched repairs revealed:  http://www.insideline.com/toyota/camry/glitch-pops-up-in-toyota-camry-recall.html

Toyota responds:  http://www.autospies.com/news/Toyota-Issues-Statement-Over-TSB-On-Recall-Repairs-59774/

Lexus LS (Lousy Steering) recalled n drydocked

I'll bet Toyota wishes they could censor the truth about this one.  Their much ballyhooed flagship, the Lexus LS - models hit the $60k to 100k range - has not only been recalled.  Its  been drydocked.  Yessir, after news of the defective steering had time to soak in, ol' Mr. T was forced to just go ahead and stop sellin' 'em altogether. 

Halting sales for safety reasons is rare in the automotive industry, but certainly not for Toyota.  Stoppin' sales is gettin' to be synonomous with the Toyota Way.  Frankly, I think Toyota oughta be forced to bring their entire operation to a screechin' halt, at least until the racketeering charges are resolved.  After all - news blackout notwithstanding - they've got over 3,000 customers alleging deceptive business practices over oil sludged engines...

Till Toyota finds a fix for this latest exposed defect, its comforting to know that Lexus LS (Lousy Steering) owners need not worry.  Toyota says the steering wheel can still be used to steer the car.  Really.  That's what they say.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lexus-recall-20100525,0,6644368.story

Censored by Twitter: Toyota's April sales plummet 16.7 percent in Canada

5/12/2010 - instead of separate posts, I am currently adding updates at the bottom of this post re various censorship problems with Twitter.

Toyota's slick marketing and deep discounts wore off quickly in Canada, confirmed by a 16.7 percent plunge in April sales while other automakers posted gains.  For some reason, this wasn't very well publicized on this side of the border, including the popular social media site Twitter.  When I submitted a tweet with the link below, it appeared on my home page and my profile page, but was repeatedly blocked from Search.  Recently, I've been encountering censorship not only from Twitter, but also from Yahoo.

Apparently, the reason Toyota's decline didn't "catch up with them earlier" has to do with pre-booked sales instead of the deep discounts Toyota has been offering in an attempt to lure customers into showrooms.  Perhaps this kind of information is what Toyota, Twitter, and Yahoo would prefer to keep quiet.
http://www.albertalocalnews.com/business/Canadas_six_largest_automakers_split_between_growth_decline_92711079.html

UPDATE 05/07/2010 - Twitter has censored tweets about this article from appearing in Search.  Twitter's censorship re this particular tweet started yesterday.  A subsequent tweet, "Reaching out the Toyota Way http://toyotasludge.com/victims " did appear in Search, and that may have been the ol' proverbial straw that broke Toyota's back, prompting Twitter to block all of my tweets from appearing in Search.  The link connects to a testimonial that exposes the truth about Toyota's current attitude toward customers, and is posted - along with the customer's name - on a blog established by yet another recently victimized Toyota customer.  Hey, Twitter:  this is NOT the United States of Toyota. 

UPDATE 5/8/2010 - About 8:30 pm yesterday, I noticed that my tweets were once again appearing in Search.  I'll be posting further updates re any significant developments.  

UPDATE 5/10/2010 - about noon, I repeatedly submitted the above tweet, "Toyota's April sales plummet 16.7 percent in Canada. http://tinyurl.com/25ukt2o " but it was still censored from Search.  I then tweeted info intended for my followers, "5/10/2010 about 12:15 pm Twitter still censoring 'Toyota's April sales plummet 16.7 percent in Canada. http://tinyurl.com/25ukt2o '" and that tweet was published in Search.  Bitter, Twitter?

UPDATE 5/12/2010 - about 9:25 pm I submitted a tweet referencing an article about Toyota's finances.  After monitoring Real-time rusults for about ten minutes, the tweet did not appear, but about an hour later, it showed up via regular Search.  At that time, I noticed Twitter's longstanding problem with apostrophies appearing as ' had finally been resolved.  This caused my tweet - which had been programmed to read correctly assuming Twitter's glitch - to appear jumbled.   I deleted the tweet, resubmitted it, and it appeared in Search via Real-time results within a minute or less.  About 2:00 am I submitted a tweet re Toyota's "buzz" rating being categorized as "corporate cad."  I immediately monitored Real-time results for about ten minutes but the tweet never appeared.  Then I searched again, and it appeared on a stationary list of tweets labelled Real-time results.  My retweets this evening were also omitted from active Real-time results, and one of them never appeared on my Home page.       

NHTSA lets Toyota off with a wrist slap

$16.4m would be a lot of dough for most folks, but Toyota isn't among them. Having made something in the range of $52 billion last year, its little wonder that Toyota agreed to pay the fine in exchange for not being required to admit guilt.  If only the taxpayers could levy a fine aginst NHTSA.

More troubling still, I don't believe sentiments such as mine are getting adequately publicized.  The article below is the only one I've come across that criticizes the "punishment" Toyota received for allegedly covering up safety defects.  I was unable to access the comments, and when I tried to link up with Twitter, my tweet appeared on my home page, but I could find no evidence that it was published.  Worse yet, several other efforts to tweet about this issue were - as far as I can tell - unsuccessful.  What gives here?  Hopefully,  just a glitch.  Problem is, a pattern of strange "glitches" is emerging with regard to my efforts on Twitter, and government censorship on the Internet - not to mention blogger allegations that Toyota deletes negative posts in China via so-called "e-PR" agencies - has become a hot topic.  But I'll reserve further comments on that issue for a future post.

Right on for the Motley Fool tellin' it like it is:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2010/04/20/toyotas-shameful-wrist-slap.aspx   

Need a fix, Toyota? Just KISS.

Simply install alarms that alert drivers every time you cut a deal with NHTSA.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/02/AR2010030203914.html

Is Akio the Prince... or the Godfather?

"Toyota President Akio Toyoda, known as 'the prince' in Japan..."

Prince or Godfather? The jury - federal grand - is still out on that one, but I'm leanin' toward the latter. As the death count increases, evidence points to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sweetheart deals between Toyota and NHTSA, revolving doors resulting in blocked safety investigations, and the intentional witholding of stuff Toyota was legally required to release in accordance with lawsuits filed against them by crash victims. Big stuff.  Stuff about vehicle design and testing, complete with out of court settlements motivated by a desire to keep incriminating information quiet. And just for good measure, the Securities and Exchange Commission has jumped into the fray, demanding to know more about what Toyota has been tellin' investors. Whew. That's enough to raise anyone's eyebrows.

Equally alarming - now that a few investigations are under way - it seems we're gettin' a daily dose of heretofore unheard of defects, along with downright unnerving accounts of NHTSA's response to consumer complaints. Even Apple's Steve Wozniak got the cold shoulder when he complained about sudden unintended acceleration in his Prius.

With sales a sufferin', Toyota is comin' up with better offers for customers affected by current recalls, and plans to offer some spectacular incentives to attract buyers. Okay. But somehow, this whole thing reminds me of a movie I once saw about a family run business that got its way by makin' offers people just couldn't refuse...

Government pressures Toyota to stop sales

Toyota's latest batch of recalls seems to be the ol' proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Thanks to government pressure, Toyota has now stopped selling several of its most popular models, including its much ballyhooed Camry, Corolla, and RAV 4 crossover. Not that there's any connection, of course, but government intervention also coincided with a sudden stop in the production of these vehicles. If you ask me, Toyota oughta also quit exposin' the public to other models, startin' with the Prius. Better yet, why doesn't Toyota just do everyone a favor and close their lousy business down entirely? Apparently, the government was finally forced to act because of the horrific consequences of Toyota's defects, and the never ending barrage of consumer complaints, not only to government agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but also complaints lodged all over the Internet via comments on numerous websites, an online petition signed by over three thousand desperate Toyota customers, and individual blogs devoted to exposing the truth.

There are costs involved with producing a quality product and then reimbursing customers when honest errors are made. But cuttin' such costs invariably turn out to be even more costly in the long run. The long "run" occurs when irrate customers get together and run offending businesses like Toyota clean out of town.

Bad news keeps rollin' in for Toyota

Update: Today (10/26/10) Yahoo censored comments I submitted that were critical of Toyota and Consumer Reports magazine, including remarks about engine failures in MR2 Spyders.

Hooray for the public getting an unvarnished look at Toyota. 'Tis a pity mainstream media still refuses to expose all those engine failures in Toyota's MR2 Spyders. Nonetheless, many of the horrors of doing business with Toyota are finally coming to the public's attention.

This 1/22/10 BusinessWeek article uses some interesting terminology, sayin' Toyota can't even "buy" a break from the continuing barrage of bad news. Hmmm. Is puttin' a little cash in the right hands the way Toyota has been keepin' things quiet about their lousy products? Frankly, I'm still puzzled over Consumer Reports' silence regarding engine failures in MR2 Spyders. I no longer have any confidence in Consumer Reports magazine. I contacted CR about the problems with MR2 Spyders, and my efforts turned out to be a waste of time. Sorta like the folks runnin' the Spyderchat website complainin' to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Let's face it. The consumer has been sold down the river by an electoral system that's the best money can buy. Both parties marchin' along to the drumbeat of Wall Street. Isn't it a dirty, rotten shame that taxpayer dollars have been spent to help corporations like Toyota victimize an unsuspecting public?
http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat/archives/2010/01/toyota_to_recal.html

Toyota now characterized as a "Loser in America"

Ho, ho, ho. I just love it when a company's lousy products and equally lousy attitude toward its customers catches up with the ol' bottom line. I hope my efforts to expose Toyota for what it is have contributed to Mr. T's plunging sales. For the first half of 2009, Toyota's U.S. sales are down a whopping 38 percent, which is three percent over the national sales average.

That's right, Toyota. Keep refusin' to reimburse customers for damages when your defective engines have to be replaced, and keep blamin' your customers when things go wrong. And of course, if a customer protests too loudly about being ripped off for thousands of dollars, rely on sheer thuggery to shut 'em up. Toyota, you're a bonafide disgrace to common decency.

Get the latest scoop on Toyota's continuing downfall:
http://www.carversation.com/2009/07/22/toyota-becomes-a-loser-in-america/

Sales keep droppin' - Toyota pins hopes on Prius

Update 12/11/2010 - Prius problems continue:  650,000 recalled to fix water pumps. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2010/11/30/toyota-announces-another-prius-recall/ 
http://tinyurl.com/2ejlb9v

Toyota's sales continue to plummet, down almost sixty percent in Russia, and in the U.S., Toyota has recently been outpaced by Ford. Looks like the public is finally catchin' on to Toyota's slick marketing versus the sad facts of the corporation. Toyota and its dealerships are the absolute worst experience I've ever had in the automotive industry.

Not that all of their products are pure junk, or anything like that, but its downright amusing that Toyota is pinning its hopes on the Prius. Must be a case of nervous desperation, 'cause the Prius is developing a reputation for such niceties as unintended acceleration, brake problems, strange behavior on gravel surfaces, and less gas mileage than folks are being led to believe.

Toyota losing sales? Couldn't happen to a finer bunch.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2009/gb2009058_991777_page_2.htm