From Canadian Business magazine, April 12, 2010
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Auto sector
Does D.C. have it in for Toyota?
U.S. congressional inquiry raises concerns about the politics of 'Government Motors.'
By Thomas Watson 
Thomas Watson is a senior writer with Canadian Business. Prior to joining the magazine, he was a financial journalist and feature writer at the National Post, where he focused on the technology, auto and steel industries. His column for Canadian Business Online appears every other week.More stories by this author >>
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Washington stands accused of launching a self-serving witch hunt into Toyota’s spectacular fall from grace — thanks, in part, to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who warned Americans to stop driving all recalled Toyota vehicles before facts forced him to admit his advice was unwarranted. Indeed, with support from the governors of Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Mississippi, which all house Toyota plants, more than a few observers now wonder if public ownership of General Motors and Chrysler influenced the decision to hold congressional hearings into Toyota’s product woes.
The Japanese automaker rocked the automotive world in recent months when it disclosed a number of potential safety issues on more than eight million vehicles globally. These include ill-fitting floor mats and sticky gas pedals that have alledgedly led to fatal accidents involving unexpected acceleration. The multiple recalls have severely dented Toyota’s reputation for producing better and safer cars than North American competitors — at least in the all-important U.S. market, where Toyota’s sales declined 9% on a year-over-year basis last month. (GM and Chrysler posted modest gains in February while Ford, which avoided the need for government assistance, roared into first place with a 51% increase.)
In February, Toyota president Akio Toyoda — grandson of the company’s founder — met U.S. demands to testify at federal government hearings into the affair. With tears in his eyes, he apologized for the need to recall cars sporting his family name (and for any injuries or loss of life that may have resulted from them), but his words fell on some deaf ears. Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur waved a book touting Toyota quality at the executive while expressing dissatisfaction with his apology. “I don’t think it reflected adequate remorse for those who died,” she said.
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