Toyota, pedals, and supply chains

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Jonathan S. Shapiro" <shap () eros-os org>
Date: February 16, 2010 7:08:24 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Toyota, pedals, and supply chains

[For IP]
 
A few weeks ago, we bought a new, Japan-made Toyota RAV4 when my wife's car broke down unexpectedly. During that 
purchase, the dealership manager made two interesting claims (and stated that they had being advised by Toyota 
corporate to pass these statements to customers):
 
1. The pedal issue does not affect Toyota vehicles made in Japan, because they don't use that pedal.
2. That particular pedal assembly is made by a single U.S. supplier. Identical assemblies are used by several car makes 
and manufacturers, some of which are American car companies. Toyota accounts for only 40% of the pedal assemblies 
manufactured by that supplier.
 
I have not seen either of these claims noted (or debunked) in the papers or the popular press, which strikes me as 
surprising. Perhaps I missed them. If they are true, the second point raises two questions that *also* should have seen 
some reporting that I missed:
 
1. What cars contain the *other* 60% of those pedals?
2. Why aren't we seeing issues in *those* cars?
3. If we aren't, why do we believe that shims on the Toyota pedals are solving anything?
 
My concern is that the the 40% statement may be factually accurate but immaterial. It does not surpass belief that 
Toyota would advise its sales people to circulate that type of statement under these circumstances as a means of 
bolstering customer confidence. But *if* that is the case, the decision to circulate misleading information seems 
newsworthy in and of itself.
 
If no *other* purchaser of those pedals is experiencing problems, that would raise questions about whether the 
electronics package rather than the pedals is actually the source of the problem. If so, it isn't clear to me how 
adding shims to the pedals would fix that...
 
The point is: I don't know what's true in any of this, and that prompts me to wonder why these claims don't seem to 
have been covered. Happy to provide the dealership contact information if anybody feels like finding out. 
Alternatively, I'ld welcome pointers to where these questions have been raised and tested.
 
 
Regards,
 
 
Jonathan S. Shapiro




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