TOYOTA'S DISGRACE – AT 10:43 A.M. ET:  Apparently, there is more to Toyota's plunge than some bad engineering.  The New York Times reports:

Toyota estimated that it saved $100 million by negotiating with regulators for a limited recall of 2007 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES models for sudden acceleration, the same problem that has since prompted it to recall millions of cars, documents turned over to a Congressional committee showed Sunday.

The estimate was in a confidential presentation from July 2009 listing legislative and regulatory “wins” for the company. The presentation was among thousands of pages of documents provided as a result of subpoenas by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, one of three panels holding hearings in the next two weeks on Toyota’s safety problems.

The carmaker’s chief executive, Akio Toyoda, is set to testify before the oversight panel on Wednesday. The House Energy and Commerce Committee opens the round of hearings on Tuesday, while a Senate committee will meet on Toyota next week.

COMMENT:  This deserves a thorough airing.  Over the years, we have glorified Japanese companies.  They're not perfect, and some aren't even wonderful.  At the same time, we've tended to downplay American firms, even when they've done a fine job.  To some Americans, especially on the coasts, the word "imported" has a kind of absurd magic.

Let everything come out, and let Toyota take its lumps.

February 22, 2010