Blog Car Parts

The ‘Conspiracy’ title might be premature considering the verdict is still out as federal and Toyota’s own investigations are in process.  Great time to hypothesize.  Let’s identify the players – Toyota – more specifically, Toyota parts and the US federal government – more specifically, GMC.  By GMC, I am not referring to the General Motors of yesteryear but Government Motors of today.

Let’s dissect the context of both parties.  GMC is formerly the largest auto maker (by volume) in the world.  No longer the case following the bankruptcy.  The result? US government owns a good chunk of GMC and oversees ops.  Result #2 – guess who overtook GMC as the largest auto maker in the world? Toyota.

Examining the pre bankruptcy era is interesting.  There are many reasons why GMC went under.  Maybe it was the 13 some odd number of GMC owned brands of cars (Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade).  Maybe it was the union contracts.  Maybe it was GMC’s strong dislike for building fuel efficient ‘green vehicles.’  Regardless, GMC was sloppy.

Contrast with Toyota – Has 3 car brands (Scion, Toyota, Lexus), not 13.  Cadillac has been around since prohibition came and went yet it never became a prominent luxury marquee.  Lexus, within its first two decades, surpassed both BMW and Mercedes and became the largest luxury car maker in the US by volume (rest of the world is a little skeptical of the ‘luxury car’ concept).  The real break through was the investment into the hybrid drivetrain which GM could have easily done.  In fact, even after watching Prius sales soar, after Honda, Nissan, and Ford’s adoption of hybrid technology, GMC sat there rebadging the same vehicle a dozen times over.

To add insult over injury, Scion by Toyota is the same business model GMC attempted (and failed) twice.  Once with the namesake Geo and again with Saturn.  Small cars for young people with small budgets.  Sound familiar?

Fast forward to 2010, the year when people forgot the neutral gear.  GMC is owned by the Fed and Toyota is (and has been) killing GMC sales.  Usually, this would be capitalism meets Darwinism at its best.  However, corporations don’t have FBI, CIA, and SWAT teams on tap.  GMC does.  Could there be a more perfect storm for GMC right now?

Toyota makes a possible mistake and issues a recall.  Big whoop, recalls happen all the time.  Nissan, Honda, Acura, Chevrolet, Ford, and others have issued recalls affecting tens of millions of car owners in the past 5 years alone.  Ford issued a recall on their best selling vehicle, the F15o.  Why? Because it lit itself on fire and burned homes to the ground.  Toyota gets a lame gas pedal, the response – CONGRESSIONAL HEARING.  Some 60+ year old can’t put his Prius in neutral in San Diego, the response – FEDERAL AGENTS SENT TO INVESTIGATE.

Lesser known fact – Denso is a Toyota owned parts supplier, similar to what Delphi is to GMC.  Last week, their California offices were raided by FBI, assisted by full SWAT teams.  The reason? Denso’s oxygen sensor design might have questionable patents.  Steve Jobs WISHES Apple was owned by the Fed so he could send the FBI and SWAT charging into Google, HTC, and Adobe.

Worst case scenario, we find out Toyota used subpar gas pedals.  Ironically enough, this is the FIRST TIME Toyota has used a North American parts supplier.  However, it is naive to think the Federal government is not using this to their advantage.  Guess that is what happens when the Federal Government picks up the leftovers of a sloppy situation.

Either that, or Tiger Woods orchestrated the whole Prius fiasco to get the press off him.  It’s working.