The Toyota Crisis: A Once-High Flier Going Down in Flames?

If it were a TV script, it would be dismissed as too contrived: an off duty state police officer makes a panicked 911 call while driving. The accelerator is stuck to the floor, and he's barreling out of control at 120 miles an hour through traffic, unable to stop. His wife, daughter, and brother-in-law are trapped in the car along with him. He tells the 911 operator that he's about to plunge through an intersection. The car's passengers scream in terror...and the line goes dead.

Sadly, this really happened on August 28, 2009 to California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor and his family while driving a loaner 2009 Lexus ES350. Saylor had just dropped his car off for servicing, and died shortly thereafter, as the loaner flipped out of control and burst into flames, killing all four occupants. The chilling 911 tape even made it onto the Internet:

http://www.sandiego6.com/mostpopular/story/Santee-CHP-officer-Saylor-killed-Lexus-accelerator/AzYjOhtvFE2mIuxTtxrK4Q.cspx?p=2

http://www.sandiego6.com/media/lib/38/b/2/d/b2d4de84-999f-4074-b369-d0deb7c1b295/car911.wma

Lexus, of course, is the upscale division of Toyota Motor Corporation, the global car manufacturer that was about to surpass General Motors as the United States' biggest car company this year. Saylor's crash in a Toyota-built car was not an isolated incident, but instead one of several high-profile equipment failures, along with other potentially fatal product defects that (the awful human tragedies aside) have now caused a global crisis of confidence in Toyota's reputation and plunging sales.

Over the next few weeks I'll explore how Toyota has handled (or failed to handle) this growing crisis. I'll also explore the interlocking web of political and economic interests involved in this issue, as Toyota, along with most other companies of its size, has built up a formidable network of politicians and former government regulatory agency members that support its business.