While stuck accelerators or failing brakes on a car are serious defects that can cause mortal injury, the whole Toyota recall has been suspiciously blown out of proportion by the U.S. media.
I say “suspicious” because to me, it smacks of outright nationalism. There are car recalls all the time, for various incidental or consequential matters–ask any car owner. And when the U.S. motor industry is largely bankrupt and/ or languishing, the negative and almost gleeful lash out at Toyota doesn’t seem cute in the slightest.
After all, isn’t Toyota the world's most successful car company and one of the world’s strongest brands? Hasn’t the car brand beaten the U.S. car industry into submission through its quality of production, persistent, continuous innovation, and great customer focus?
It’s one thing to be patriotic, but attacking Toyota like this is an exercise in pure deflection. Let’s remember, Toyota also produces a lot of cars here.
We may be having a slow news week but this kind of hype has to stop. It’s dangerous.