They Can Do No Right

Toyota has halted sales of their Lexus LS model, the company's flagship, because of a steering issue:

The company said May 21 it would recall 3,800 of its model 2009 and early 2010 LS 460 and LS 600h L sedans to fix an “off- center” steering-wheel condition that can develop during certain driving maneuvers. Toyota isn’t aware of any deaths or injuries related to the problem and has received one U.S. complaint, said Bill Kwong, a company spokesman.

Kwong:

“Until there’s a fix, we can’t sell the vehicle,” said Kwong, based in Torrance, California.

With all the problems that BP has had, it's easy to forget the tumultuous year that Toyota has had. They have always been on their high horse about their quality. Now that their having problems with their cars, they have been knocked off. Other companies are definitely performing better right now with General Motors making a profit, Ford doing well, Honda continuing their success. For someone who isn't the biggest fan of Toyota, this is fantastic.

Obama Wants To Get Clean

Clean vehicles at least. He wants to set 2025 emission standards now. I feel like it's a little too soon and we should take steps to have cleaner vehicles. We don't know what technology that will develop in the next 15 years. The standards set today could be pedestrian in 2025.

Toyota Turmoil

Toyota is facing more recalls, now including the Prius:

To fix the problem, Toyota is responding with a media blitz:

“We believe we are close to announcing an effective remedy,” the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker said in an advertisement in more than 20 U.S. newspapers yesterday.

“I am deeply sorry that we’re giving cause for concern to customers,” Toyoda said in an unscheduled interview on Jan. 29 with Japan’s NHK television network in Davos, posted to U.S. broadcaster ABC News’ Web site. “We’re preparing to explain the facts to our customers as soon as we can so that we can remove that anxiety.”

Critics aren't impressed with Toyota's response:

“They have wasted too much time without doing anything,” said Tatsuya Mizuno, director of Mizuno Credit Advisory. “Toyota used to be a company with foresight, always ready to take action, but now they have fallen very far behind the curve.”

While I may not like the company, they were one of the best run companies in the world. This is a very surprising blunder by the company. I guess part of this is because they aren't used to this kind of disaster.