Toyota Sudden Acceleration Web Conference – Toyota Webcast
Seems like the Toyota PR/Marketing machine is running full throttle to save the Toyota brand from any further damage. These efforts may be seen as desperate attempts by some, as we start to see a shift from large auto companies to smaller companies that are quick to respond to consumer demands.
Gilbert who claims to have proof that he can demonstrate the issue with Toyotas with sudden acceleration.
Research from Stanford could dispute this.
So today Toyota is holding a conference to discuss and dispell, basically doing some damage control, to make an attempt rescue their image. Toyota has suffered from recall after recall in recent months.
Still hard core owners still appear to stand behind their vehicles.
Here’s the AP release/story:
Related Content
LINK: Toyota recall information
NEW YORK — Toyota Motor Corp. plans to try to undercut suggestions that its electronics systems caused the sudden acceleration problems that led to the recall of more than 8 million vehicles.
The automaker will host a Webcast event Monday at 1 p.m. EST during which it will seek to debunk a critic who claims faulty gas pedals did not cause the sudden acceleration.
Toyota will aim to duplicate the scenario created by David W. Gilbert, a professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Gilbert told Congress on Feb. 23 that he was able to recreate sudden acceleration in a Toyota vehicle by manipulating its electronics.
The company is calling in the director of Stanford University’s Center for Automotive Research to try to refute the claims. Toyota said Stanford professor Chris Gerdes will show that the malfunctions Gilbert produced “are completely unrealistic under real-world conditions and can easily be reproduced on a wide range of vehicles made by other manufacturers.”
Stanford’s Center for Automotive Research is funded by a group of auto companies, including Toyota.
Toyota also has hired a consulting firm to study whether electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The firm, Exponent Inc., released an interim report that has found no link between the two.
Related Content
LINK: Toyota recall information
The event planned Monday is part of a broad campaign by the world’s biggest automaker to discredit critics, repair its damaged reputation and begin restoring trust in its vehicles.
On Friday, a congressional committee questioned Toyota’s efforts to find the causes of the problems. It also questioned whether the company had sufficiently investigated the issue of electronic defects.
Toyota executives also will address recall issues at its annual suppliers meeting in Kentucky on Tuesday.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
In other related news: Toyota is offering 0% financing for 60 months on 8 models. And for existing owners a 2 year service maintenance for free. Returning Toyota customers will also receive a complimentary two-year “Toyota Auto Care Premium Package” that includes oil changes and other maintenance services, the source said. Cash rebates ranging from $500 to $3,000 will also be offered depending on vehicles, the source added.
