While appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities, Toyota Canada executives took the opportunity to publicly apologize to Canadians for the current recall situation as well as the potential risks associated with their faulty accelerator pedals. They also clarified their stance and refused to admit their mistake (they alerted Transport Canada too late).
"The system in place in Canada compels automakers to disclose all known and confirmed problems. But first we have to receive and validate customer complaints and make sure there is indeed a problem. That’s exactly what we did," argued Stephen Beatty, Managing Director, Toyota Canada Inc.
According to him, the first validated complaints were filed in late October of 2009. Several weeks of analysis, including the input from Toyota’s Engineering and Quality Committee in Japan, were necessary to confirm the seriousness of the problem.
Transport Canada was alerted no sooner than on January 21, 2010, and a recall was immediately issued. "Our data tells us that only one case is truly and directly linked to unintended acceleration caused by a fault in the electronic throttle control system," added Mr. Beatty.
A solution to the problem was in fact developed at the same time Toyota undertook its various analyses. More than 60 percent of all affected vehicles have already been fixed.
A different interpretation
The MPs, members of the standing committee, seemed more concerned that several months passed between the time the first complaints were filed and Toyota officially reacted. A situation for which Toyota executives haven’t accepted any responsibility.
“Because of your corporate culture, you left cars on road that pose a safety threat to Canadians. Our mission is precisely to protect Canadians from your corporate culture,” exclaimed Bloc MP Mario Laframboise.
Toyota’s managing director and North American representative, Yoshi Inaba, calmly repeatedly reiterated Toyota’s position in the matter: “We received complaints, but Transport Canada asks us to report defects. Before an issue becomes a real defect, we have to take the time to analyze it, and that’s what we did,” they explained.
It is true however that the delays are prolonged because of the obligation to transfer the file to Toyota’s Quality Control department in Japan. The recall can only be confirmed once this step has been executed.
“We know that our reputation is at stake in this matter. That’s why we have changed our procedure and created an international safety committee as well as safety committees around the world, including North America. We are changing our procedures to ensure that information travels faster. Mr Toyoda apologized for this situation before the American people, and for him that included Canadians as well, and in no circumstances wishes to see it repeat itself,” continued Inaba.
Toyota executives also took the opportunity to present a summary of the current operations. “We found a solution that is simple to implement and that prevents condensation from jamming the gas pedals. We are 100% convinced that the issues reported have nothing to do with the electronic throttle management system. We made these modifications to the current pedals, and we are making sure that all our cars are now equipped with a system capable of bringing the engine back down to its minimum RPM when the brakes are fully applied. This is the kind of safety system we want to introduce, and the solution has already been applied to 60% of the problem vehicles,” said Stephen Beatty.
In closing, note that although several rumours are going around, it seems that at the moment no class action suit has officially been filed against Toyota. “We have received no information to this effect. But we remain at the disposal of Canadian authorities and will supply any information they request. We have even provided Transport Canada with a black box reader capable of detecting operating issues in all our vehicles, and we trained their employees to use it,” he concluded.
"The system in place in Canada compels automakers to disclose all known and confirmed problems. But first we have to receive and validate customer complaints and make sure there is indeed a problem. That’s exactly what we did," argued Stephen Beatty, Managing Director, Toyota Canada Inc.
According to him, the first validated complaints were filed in late October of 2009. Several weeks of analysis, including the input from Toyota’s Engineering and Quality Committee in Japan, were necessary to confirm the seriousness of the problem.
Transport Canada was alerted no sooner than on January 21, 2010, and a recall was immediately issued. "Our data tells us that only one case is truly and directly linked to unintended acceleration caused by a fault in the electronic throttle control system," added Mr. Beatty.
A solution to the problem was in fact developed at the same time Toyota undertook its various analyses. More than 60 percent of all affected vehicles have already been fixed.
A different interpretation
The MPs, members of the standing committee, seemed more concerned that several months passed between the time the first complaints were filed and Toyota officially reacted. A situation for which Toyota executives haven’t accepted any responsibility.
“Because of your corporate culture, you left cars on road that pose a safety threat to Canadians. Our mission is precisely to protect Canadians from your corporate culture,” exclaimed Bloc MP Mario Laframboise.
Toyota’s managing director and North American representative, Yoshi Inaba, calmly repeatedly reiterated Toyota’s position in the matter: “We received complaints, but Transport Canada asks us to report defects. Before an issue becomes a real defect, we have to take the time to analyze it, and that’s what we did,” they explained.
It is true however that the delays are prolonged because of the obligation to transfer the file to Toyota’s Quality Control department in Japan. The recall can only be confirmed once this step has been executed.
“We know that our reputation is at stake in this matter. That’s why we have changed our procedure and created an international safety committee as well as safety committees around the world, including North America. We are changing our procedures to ensure that information travels faster. Mr Toyoda apologized for this situation before the American people, and for him that included Canadians as well, and in no circumstances wishes to see it repeat itself,” continued Inaba.
Toyota executives also took the opportunity to present a summary of the current operations. “We found a solution that is simple to implement and that prevents condensation from jamming the gas pedals. We are 100% convinced that the issues reported have nothing to do with the electronic throttle management system. We made these modifications to the current pedals, and we are making sure that all our cars are now equipped with a system capable of bringing the engine back down to its minimum RPM when the brakes are fully applied. This is the kind of safety system we want to introduce, and the solution has already been applied to 60% of the problem vehicles,” said Stephen Beatty.
In closing, note that although several rumours are going around, it seems that at the moment no class action suit has officially been filed against Toyota. “We have received no information to this effect. But we remain at the disposal of Canadian authorities and will supply any information they request. We have even provided Transport Canada with a black box reader capable of detecting operating issues in all our vehicles, and we trained their employees to use it,” he concluded.