By Douglas A. McIntyre
Yet another damaging revelation has undercut Toyota’s (TM) reputation for disclosing safety issues and the fixing potentially dangerous problems with its cars. The latest twist has a new angle: Toyota apparently bargained with U.S. regulators to limit the scope and cost of a recall. The recent discovery may do as much harm to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as it does to the Japanese car company.
Several media sources report that an internal Toyota document from July 2009 entitled, “Wins for Toyota Safety Group,” says the firm saved $100 million by convincing the NHTSA to limit an accelerator recall to 55,000 Lexus and Camry models.
