In the first months of this year, Toyota's reputation suffered significant damage: defective accelerator pedals forced the company to launch a global service campaign. The recall program started in the North American market and then spread to European countries. As a result, trust in the brand wavered, and sales figures went down.
It is noteworthy that after the first official complaints from authorities regarding possible malfunctions, Toyota did not resist and cooperated with the US government: it disclosed all available information about the defect, launched a recall, and paid a substantial fine. Meanwhile, panic grew in the US — car owners began attributing not only "sticking" pedals to their cars but also sudden unintended acceleration. American authorities tasked experts with a detailed investigation of the situation.
After several months of joint efforts by US Department of Transportation specialists and Toyota engineers, new data emerged regarding this issue.
According to the reputable publication The Wall Street Journal, transportation department experts analyzed more than 3,000 episodes of "unintended acceleration" in Toyota vehicles. In all these cases, the culprit was the person behind the wheel. Data from 75 "black boxes" of cars involved in fatal accidents due to allegedly stuck gas pedals were also studied. The picture was identical everywhere: the accelerator was pressed to the floor, and the brake pedal was not pressed at all. In other words, before collisions, drivers mistakenly pressed the gas instead of the brake.
However, one case did confirm pedal sticking — then, in an accident involving a Lexus ES 350, a highway patrol officer along with his wife and daughter were killed. But the cause of the tragedy was not the pedals but all-weather floor mats. It was these that were later recalled — 3.8 million vehicles fell under that campaign.
Furthermore, the department has still not found any malfunctions in Toyota's electronic systems that could trigger accidents. The only defects confirmed by the company itself are unsuitable floor mats and accelerator pedals that returned to their original position too slowly.
As a result, it turns out that the recall of about 8 million Toyota cars was most likely unjustified.
Even if official bodies recognize that the Japanese manufacturer is not to blame for these incidents, the company's reputation has already suffered. As they say, "whether he stole or was robbed, there was some unpleasant story there..."
