In an internal presentation, Toyota staffers boasted from the organization saving $100 million by negotiating a limited remember for Toyota Camry and Lexus ES cars over an issue that could cause unintended acceleration.
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In an internal Toyota (TM) document used as component of a company presentation on its government relations, dated July 6, 2009, the phrase “Negotiated ‘equipment’ remember on Camry/ES re: [sudden acceleration], saved $100 million+ with no defect found” is among a bullet-pointed list of “wins.”
“Equipment” remembers is a lot more limited kind of recall, frequently to repair an accessory or non-essential part of the vehicle.
The presentation was given to Yoshi Inaba, Toyota’s top North American executive
The reference was apparently to a September 2007 remembered to secure floor mats that could trap the cars’ gas pedals.
In August 2009, the month following the presentation in which the executive boasted of saving $100 million over a full remember, a family of four was killed in a Lexus with its gas pedal stuck under a floor mat.
In November 2009, Toyota had full recall to reconfigure the gas pedals of numerous Toyota models to prevent such incidents.