Monday, March 27, 2017

doc F00956-ATX-12991165 Toyota's flurry of activity in response to tough questions on SUA by LATimes Ken Bensinger

Now, about Erika Jones. I unearthed this fascinating doc while searching the computer here for docs about her. She is part of a large group of people organizing the response to Ken Bensinger. At one point, VP Sasaki of TMC told them they could not answer Ken at all, but then relented after an appeal by Y. Inaba, if memory serves. There are several docs about that episode; to be continued.


From:
Ryo Sakai/=TMS/Toyota.
Sent:
12/11/2009 4:49 PM.
To: [ - ]
Sumio Ohtsuji/=WDC/Toyota_NY@TOYOTA_NY.
Cc: [ - ]
Hiroshi Hashimoto/=EA/=Avalon/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY;Iwao Kimura/=WDC/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY;Masaki Hosoe/=Lexus/Toyota@Toyota;Shunji Yoshida/=Admin/=Avalon/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY.
Bcc: [ - ]
.
Subject:
Re: Fw: LAT questions.




SVP Ohtsuji:

There have been many developments occurring rapidly, and I haven’t had time to report to you. I have been teleconferencing with the full involvement of the following people in the public relations corps. (Recently concluded).

Chris Reynolds TMS Legal
Alicia McAndrews TMS Legal
Michael Gross TMA-NY-Consultant
Chris Santucci TMA-DC
Chris Tinto TMA-DC
Cindy Knight TMA-DC
Erika Jones TMA-DC-Consultant
Mike Michels TMS
Irv Miller TMS
Gary Smith TMS-PQSS
John Hanson TMS
Brian Lyons TMS

Currently, I have been discussing with the relevant parties through teleconferencing about each question, including whether they can answer straight or not, while at the same time, typing a draft. While we at TMS public relations are doing a final review, we will distribute it to the relevant parties again, review it, and then, we are planning to send a response to the LA Times at 10:00 PST tomorrow morning. (It seems that the article will appear this weekend in the Sunday edition. There is a strong possibility that it will be distributed in the Web edition on Saturday evening.)

I have tried to make contact with Office Manager Doi of TMC, but we have not yet gotten in touch.

Shortly before these teleconferences, since the various media reports have increased the possibility of an impact on sales, all the relevant parties got together on an emergency basis with Bob Daly as Chair, and we conferred about future measures for handling this.

Attendees were
Chairman Inaba, Jim Lentz, Dian Ogilvie, Bob Daly, SVP Yamaha, Chris Reynolds(Legal), Irv Miller, Alicia McAndrews(Legal),
Mike Michels, Gary Smith
PQSS, Bob WaltzPQSS), GVP Yamaguchi (PQSS), VP Ito (Legal), SEC Saka (Legal), and I.

The content was what kinds of specific countermeasures Legal, Media Communication, Dealer/Employee Communications, etc. should take, specifically with respect to concerns about the electronic control system.

The main topic was using a task force team made up of TMA-TMS’s functions to move those measures forward.

Legal will acquire data about the electronic control system from TMC (they have already acquired part of it) and along with the NHTSA’s complaint database, they will use a specialized outside consulting firm to analyze it in anticipation of litigation.

Looking at those circumstances, we are considering the question of how to handle it in terms of communication.

One proposal that has come up is to form a blue ribbon panel consisting of outside experts and have them do the evaluation and checking, and receive some sort of seal of approval.

Legal believes that counterarguments from Media Communication are a defense measure against authorization of a class action, and they have agreed to look for methods of making them give up as much as possible.

I am sending documents that Public Relations put together hastily in advance of this meeting. (I have no time to report on their actual content.)

Chairman Inaba made a specific suggestion to create something that we can report at the meeting with the president the week after next (the 22nd) about the status of these matters, summarizing the views of Legal, Public Relations, External Affairs, and Marketing, etc. , so from now on, Legal (Chris Reynolds) will take the main role in creating that paper. (At the final stage, we will create a Japanese version.)

I think that the aforementioned Public Relations paper will be full of the essentials.

I think there will be several developments next week.

The Americans concerned, including Chairman Inaba, and President Lentz and others, feel that things are at a highly critical stage, and so will go ahead no matter what TMC says, and I think that there is a great danger that as a last resort, TMC will single out Public Relations for criticism. I think that coordinating with TMC Public Relations from now on will be the key.

Sakai of TMS
Ryo Sakai
Senior Executive Coordinator
Corporate Communications Department
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
310-468-xxxx office
310-941-xxxx cell




Sumio Ohtsuji/WDC/Toyota_NY@TOYOTA_NY
12/11/2009 03:00 PM
To Ryo Sakai/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, Masaki Hosoe/Lexus/Toyota@Toyota
cc Hiroshi Hashimoto/EA/Avalon/Toyota_NY, Iwao Kimura/WDC/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY, Shunji Yoshida/Admin/Avalon/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY
Subject Fw: LAT questions

Mr. Hosoe, Mr. Sakai:

It seems that more questions have come in from the LA Times, and Public Relations in Torrance, Chris Santucci in Washington, and Erica Jones from Legal are having discussions and making A.

If there is any information that it would be good to share, I’d like you to let me know about it.

Ohtsuji
Sumio Ohtsuji
Senior Vice President and Chief Coordinating Officer
Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
601 Thirteenth Street, NW, Suite 910 South
Washington, DC 20005
E-mail: SOhtsuji@tma.xxxxx
Office: 202-463-xxxxx
Fax: 202-822-xxxx
Cell: 202-425-xxxx


----- Forwarded by Sumio Ohtsuji/WDC/Toyota_NY on 2009/12/11 17:52 -----

Jo Cooper/WDC/Toyota_NY
2009/12/11 16:35
To sohtsuji@tma.xxxxxxx
cc
Subject Fw: LAT questions

______________________________________________

Josephine S. Cooper
Group Vice President, Public Policy and Government/Industry Affairs
TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
601 Thirteenth Street, N.W.
Suite 910 South
Washington, D.C. 20005
202.463.xxxx Office
202.463.xxxx Fax
202.468.xxxx Cell

----- Forwarded by Jo Cooper/WDC/Toyota_NY on 12/11/2009 04:32 PM -----
John Hanson/TMS/Toyota@TOYOTA
12/11/2009 02:40 PM

To Jim Lentz/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, irv_miller@toyota.com, Mike Michels/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, Bob Daly/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, Bob Carter/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, Dian Ogilvie/Admin/Avalon/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY, Jo Cooper/WDC/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY, Bob Waltz/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, Chris Santucci/WDC/Toyota_NY@Toyota_NY, Christopher Tinto/WDC/Toyota_NY@TOYOTA_NY, "Erika Jones" <EJones@mayerbroxxxx>, "Martha Voss" <MVoss@tma.xxxxx>, Gary E Smith/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, Alicia McAndrews/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, Christopher Reynolds/TMS/Toyota@Toyota, mgross@rlmnet.com, Mark Templin/Lexus/Toyota@Toyota
cc brian_lyons@toyoxxxxxx
Subject Fw: LAT questions

All,
Moments ago I received this list of questions from Ken Bensinger at the LA Times . He wanted to simply ask the questions but I asked that he put them in writing. And of course he is on "tight deadline."

As you can see, the questions are varied but seem to point to another Sunday front page feature calling into question Toyota's character.

Per instructions from Irv Miller, I am routing Ken's e-mail so that you are aware of what to expect this Sunday, as well as to garner input.

Brian Lyons and I will begin a draft response to the Times. Obviously, it will need to be vetted internally. I also believe that NHTSA should probably be given a heads-up on this from our DC office.

I will try to buy time on this with the Times. We have an opportunity to reply in detail...then compare and contrast how they handle our response in print.

Thanks...
__________________________________________
JOHN HANSON
National Manager,
Environmental, Safety & Quality Communications
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 South Western Ave. (HQ40)
Torrance, CA 90501
310-468-xxxx
310-291-xxxx (cell)
310-381-xxxx (FAX)

----- Forwarded by John Hanson/TMS/Toyota on 12/11/2009 11:25 AM -----
"Bensinger, Ken" <Ken.Bensinger@latimes.com>
12/11/2009 11:01 AM

To <John_Hanson@Toyota.com>
cc
Subject LAT questions

John,
As per your request, here are our questions in written form. Basically, we wanted to make sure we fully understand Toyota’s position on these topics so we are able to present your side or thinking as accurately and comprehensively as possible. As usual, we are working on a tight deadline, so would appreciate your answers as soon as possible.
I look forward to receiving your responses and please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Ken
QUESTIONS
--In 2003, Toyota engineers discovered a defect in Sienna minivans that could cause them to accelerate without driver input. The problem was corrected on the assembly line, but at least 26,000 vans had already been manufactured, according to NHTSA documents. If this is correct, why did Toyota not move to correct the problem in those vehicles immediately, and why did it wait until 2008 to inform NHTSA of the defect and until this year to recall those vehicles? Also, it appears that only around 1/6th of those 25,000 vehicles have been repaired in the recall. Why so few?
--Toyota has conducted numerous recalls related to sudden acceleration over the past decade in the U.S. and Canada, including two previous floor mat recalls. But the problem has continued. Does this mean that the previous recalls were not successful in eliminating the problems and if so, why not? In particular, why wasn’t the 2007 recall of Lexus ES and Camry floor mats effective in preventing catastrophic accidents such as the Saylor case?
--In October 2004, Toyota wrote NHTSA that that it would not conduct a recall of steering relay rods in 4Runners because, unlike in Japan, it had not received field information to indicate a problem in the U.S. market. But documents entered into court evidence indicate that Toyota had received dozens, if not more, complaints of relevant problems prior to that date, and other court documents show that Toyota had performed numerous warranty repairs on those components prior to that date. If these documents are correct, why did Toyota tell NHTSA that it had not received such information in the U.S.? And why didn’t Toyota conduct a U.S. recall at that time?
--Toyota has moved on numerous occasions to settle lawsuits alleging sudden acceleration or unintended acceleration. According to attorneys and other knowledgable sources, dozens of these cases have been settled and plaintiffs have been held to strict confidentiality agreements. Is this true and can you tell us specifically how many settlements you have reached? If Toyota’s position is that the problem is caused by floor mat and pedal interaction when the floor mat is improperly installed by the driver or another third party, why would the company have settled those cases?
--A number of consumers have told us that Toyota bought back their vehicles under Lemon laws following complaints of unintended or sudden acceleration. Is this true and could you say how many vehicles you have bought back because customers complained about unintended acceleration? If Toyota’s position is that the acceleration problem is caused by floor mat and pedal interaction when the floor mat is improperly installed by the driver or another third party, why would it buy those vehicles back as lemons. As a corollary question: what has Toyota done with any vehicles it bought back as Lemons that allegedly suffered from unintended acceleration? Were they destroyed? Were they resold?
--Toyota maintains that it cannot share information on its Event Data Recorders with vehicle owners because there is only one diagnostic tool capable of reading the information. Is that still accurate, that there is only one such tool in the entire country?
--Under California state law and laws in a number of other states, EDR data belongs to the vehicle owner, yet Toyota has repeatedly told customers that the data is proprietary. Who does the data belong to? Did the 2005 federal court ruling in Padilla vs. Toyota change the way that Toyota shares EDR data?
--In the course of NHTSA’s drafting the rule on EDRs, Toyota raised numerous objections to both the proposed rule and the original version of the final rule, including limiting the number and time range of data points captured. Why would Toyota oppose such requirements?
--According to your web site, Toyota’s EDRs are capable of recording data including brake pedal application and degree of application of accelerator pedal, among other things. That data would appear to be useful in determining possible causes in the Saylor case, as well as in other similar cases. But according to the Sheriff’s report, that data has not been accessed in that case. Does Toyota intend to access that data to help it make a determination, and does it plan to release that data?
--Has Toyota used EDR data to aid investigation of any other alleged unintended or sudden acceleration cases? If so, what did the data show? Has Toyota shared EDR data with NHTSA for its investigations? If so, in what cases? Has Toyota extracted any data from EDRs that shed any light on SA or UA cases?
--Has Toyota, through its handling of recalls, defect investigations, settlements, lemon buybacks and litigation minimized public awareness of the potential risk for sudden acceleration events in its vehicles? If not, how do you explain the impact of those actions?