Rep. Betty Sutton: “It comes very late”

  –Another good point, in the ongoing Toyota hearing, this from Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio. When Toyota USA head James Lentz testifies again that the company is now going to include a North American rep on its committee on fixing problems, back in the home company, Rep. Sutton comments mildly that the news is good, but “I have to tell you, it comes very late.”



Once again–it is interesting that Toyota, which as Sutton points out has received much from the U.S., has never felt impelled to have this kind of give-and-take, or this channel for “appeal,” as Lentz refers to it, before.

And once again, the reason would seem to be not that defective throttle openings are somehow less a problem on the North American continent than they would be elsewhere, but that the authorities are not equally able here to address such concerns, or to induce a company to deal with them.

At least the hearing is a step in the right direction. Tomorrow the head of Toyota is up.