Toyota seems to be in a bit of a mess, wouldn’t you say?

We heard back in October that dealers would be modifying floormats and using zip-ties to fix an unintended acceleration issue.  It seemed some customers must have had mats slip under the pedals.

But then just recently Toyota stopped production and sales of some models in the US (and later suspended some models in other markets) and instituted a massive recall.  Some stories say there is a need for replacement parts, one local dealer claimed it was just a software glitch.  Regardless, the stoppage of production and sales is pretty astonishing.

Now there are additional reports of brake issues in the Prius, the company’s PR gem.  Even Apple founder Steve Wozniak claims that his Prius has some sort of software fault which he can replicate under certain conditions.

What makes this all interesting, is the way the US Government has jumped in.  First our Transportation Secretary said Toyota customers should cease driving their cars and take them to dealerships immediately (never mind that Toyota has not even shipped the replacement parts yet, or finished training mechanics to complete the repairs).    He later said this was a “misstatement.”

The US Government today announced a formal investigation into the issue of Prius brakes.

To me, these are the stickiest wickets.  I yield to no-one in my disdain for Toyota (as a Detroiter and also Formula 1 fan), but the US Government has put itself in the awkward position of owning the competition.   I think this will be even thornier when Ford needs to renegotiate labor deals with the union that owns the competition.

Also – an ex-Toyota lawyer has some surprising things to say about the company.

This is really a PR fiasco.  If what the lawyer says is true, it will only get worse.  Obfuscation doesn’t not make a crisis go away.