Toyota’s Antics Irking American Automakers

While Toyota hasn’t been having the best month for public relations, the Japanese automaker has made some calculated efforts to minimize the damage. And American automakers aren’t happy about it one bit.

Before Toyota executives testified before Congress, the automaker also sent a series of presentations called “Automotive Recalls in Perspective” to targeted members of congressional committees. Among the data included in the presentations were graphs that indicated American automakers Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had far more safety recalls than Toyota.

The tenor of the presentation: American automakers are a bigger safety concern than Toyota and its acceleration problems.

Why It Stings

Sure, we might not expect Toyota to play well with others, particularly American car manufacturers, during its most difficult time. But those American companies are crying foul. Here’s why:

Toyota wasn’t testifying before Congress about recalls in general, or common practices related to recalls. Toyota grudgingly brought its chief executives to testify in what was a huge embarrassment: The U.S. government wanted to know why Toyota had dragged its heels on such a huge and public safety issue.

The fact that Toyota turned it into a public relations opportunity to discuss American auto recalls had Ford, GM and Chrysler fuming. The smoke-and-mirrors presentation, designed to distract the congressional committees away from the central issue at hand, was the very same kind of tactic Toyota used to avoid the recalls to begin with. Initially, Toyota refused to recognize acceleration and braking problems on their vehicles, and instead blamed floor mats. It wasn’t until further deaths and accidents that Toyota recalled millions of vehicles for acceleration and braking problems.

To cause further problems, the Alliance of American Automobile Manufacturers, a joint partnership lobbying group representing the American manufacturers and Toyota, is tearing apart in the fallout from the PR campaign. Honda and Nissan, two other prominent Japanese automakers, as well as German automakers like Mercedes-Benz, aren’t even in the Auto Alliance. So now Ford, GM and Chrysler are wondering why they’re investing millions of dollars in a lobbying alliance with a company that’s bad-mouthing their safety records.

The Future of the Auto Industry

So with the Auto Alliance threatening to come apart at the seams, what could this mean for the public?

We’re not sure. Honda and Nissan could get entrance into the Auto Alliance. Congress could pas new safety laws and regulations in response to the Toyota recalls, and the Alliance might not have much of a lobbying leg to stand on. And the American automaker might lose some of the cache its enjoying during these new troubles for Toyota.