By Hans Bader
Earlier, I discussed how GM’s recovery was inflated because of the hangover effect of Toyota’s safety recalls.
GM benefited from the bogus safety issues and resulting recalls that bedeviled Toyota in 2010. This helped GM temporarily gain market share at a time when overall auto sales were rising rapidly. For example, as The New York Times noted in March 2010, “Toyota Motor, estimating that it lost 18,000 sales in the United States last month while its chief competitors enjoyed big gains, introduced incentives Tuesday as it tried to restore consumers’ confidence in its vehicles after three big recalls,” as the company “acknowledged that the recalls had hurt Toyota’s ability to attract new buyers.” Toyota sales later rebounded, however, after it turned out its vehicles were safe, and that crashes of Toyota vehicles were the result of driver error, except for one crash that resulted from a dealer improperly installing a floor mat.
I discussed the subject within this commentary:
Lawyer Ted Frank has discussed the issue here, chronicling how Toyota vehicles turned out to be safe:
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2010/07/toldyouso-dept.php
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2010/09/washington-post-4.php
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/008422.php
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2010/09/washington-post-4.php
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/008422.php
The Cato Institute discusses it here:
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/pressuring-toyota-into-an-overcautious-recall/
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/pressuring-toyota-into-an-overcautious-recall/
No comments:
Post a Comment