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:
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Ryo
Sakai/=TMS/Toyota.
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Sent:
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12/11/2009 4:49
PM.
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To: [ - ]
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Sumio
Ohtsuji/=WDC/Toyota_NY@TOYOTA_NY.
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Cc: [ - ]
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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.
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Bcc: [ - ]
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.
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Subject:
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Re: Fw: LAT
questions.
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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 Waltz（PQSS), 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?
