TORRANCE, California — In stark contrast to the tactics of General Motors and Ford in the aftermath of Toyota's massive recall, Honda on Thursday said it "will not react in a predatory way toward either Toyota or Toyota customers."
General Motors and Ford launched incentive programs this week aimed squarely at enticing disgruntled Toyota customers away from the brand as it struggles with a major image problem as a result of the recall. The domestic automakers' tactic of luring customers away from Toyota was criticized by some bloggers and even one other automaker — Hyundai — who likened the two to "vultures."
Honda also addressed customer concerns about how it is affected — if at all — by the Toyota recall for faulty accelerator pedals. The letter, to Honda and Acura dealers from John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor, is a tutorial on how to handle questions from the media and consumers.
"The recently announced Toyota recall has prompted some customer questions to you, our Honda and Acura dealers," said Mendel in the letter. "In fact, Toyota's recall, while serious, has no impact whatsoever on Honda or Acura customers. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is not aware of any reports for either Honda or Acura vehicles, regarding the type of failure Toyota is citing as the cause for its recall. Additionally, while we use the same supplier as Toyota for some of our products (as do other manufacturers), we do not use the same components."
Inside Line says: No Honda or Acura incentives are in the works for Toyota customers. And only time will tell which automakers had the correct response to the crisis. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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michaeloliver1 says:
11:55 AM, 03/02/2010
If Honda/Acura really wanted to take the high road they would address the 2nd gear grind and 3rd gear pop-out on their 6-speed manual transmissions in the 2002-2006 RSX Type S.
nyoon2002 says:
07:14 PM, 02/10/2010
tbone85,
actually, I have decided to quote your statement.
"....Maybe if Toyota and Honda pack up their manufacturing out of the U.S. , then we'll tariff or ban the sale of the offshore models. Then you can see which country will suffer more."
why do you think they remove tariff? because these asian companies provide something called jobs to American blue-c workers who are just being "americans" at work...
Economy 101 - if these companies actually packs up and leaves the US, it will damage US economy worse than what it is now. Also ban the sale? ha ha you make me laugh. Ban Toyota and Honda? what about other Japanese products? What do you think that would cause? make people buy more Americans? guess again.
tbone85 says:
08:14 PM, 02/02/2010
"It is amazing that no one is blaming the company that makes the brake parts. I have followed this news and everyone is blaming Toyota. As a foreign company, Toyota will still strive for the best. The faulty brakes were manufactured by an American company. I have known that American workers have no work ethic and that shows in the product that they manufacture. Toyota wants to do business here in the states and employs Americans for that. I have made up my mind that i may never buy an American manufactured car again if this foolish witch hurts turns out bad for Toyota. May be Toyota and Honda should just pack up and move the manufacture of their product to outside the states and see which country will suffer more. "
Your bigoted comments are noted. Maybe if Toyota and Honda pack up their manufacturing out of the U.S. , then we'll tariff or ban the sale of the offshore models. Then you can see which country will suffer more.
bfo says:
02:41 PM, 02/01/2010
It is amazing that no one is blaming the company that makes the brake parts. I have followed this news and everyone is blaming Toyota. As a foreign company, Toyota will still strive for the best. The faulty brakes were manufactured by an American company. I have known that American workers have no work ethic and that shows in the product that they manufacture. Toyota wants to do business here in the states and employs Americans for that. I have made up my mind that i may never buy an American manufactured car again if this foolish witch hurts turns out bad for Toyota. May be Toyota and Honda should just pack up and move the manufacture of their product to outside the states and see which country will suffer more.
tbone85 says:
12:04 PM, 02/01/2010
That defense of Toyota may or may not prove to be accurate. It remains to be seen what Toyota knew and when they knew it. They may have acted better than ford or worse. Until all of the facts come out (which will take years and several lawsuits) we don't know what Toyota has done wrong or right in this situation. To answer your question, there can be no doubt That Toyota has done at least some wrong. Whether it is comparatively worse than their competition will be determined over time.
carobserver81 says:
03:48 PM, 01/31/2010
Do any of you even remember what happened during the Ford Explorer-Michelin recall?
Didn't Ford and Michelin go to court to try and prove that they were not liable for the accidents that killed many more people than the recall Toyota is attempting to deal with?
As I recall, Ford told customers to keep their tires at a lower air pressure in order to prevent the Explorer from flipping over. How ethical is that? From an engineering point of view, it seems that Ford skimped on development costs by basically turning a Ford Ranger into an SUV to make the Explorer. If you do a survey of vehicles that flip over most easily, they are SUVs that are based on compact pick up trucks: 4Runner, Jimmy, Explorer, etc...
Now reconsider what has happened to Toyota...yes, this recall could have perhaps been prevented; everything can be in hindsight. But considering the current situation, what has Toyota really done wrong? They could have done certain things "better" like not even having a recall or apologizing even more for the crisis, but have they done anything that is clearly selfish, like Ford did? I don't think so.
Just my 0.02.
guy1974 says:
10:34 AM, 01/30/2010
skw0123 says: - recalls are an unavoidable fact of life but come on over 4 million Toyotas and Lexus's recalled late last year for "carpet mat issues" and now over 2 million in the US alone recalled for this serious issue.
Toyota deserves everything they have coming to them. People bought them for one reason - reliability. Nobody bought a new Toyota for price, driving fun or design (interior or exterior). Therefore when the sole reason for buying a Toyota has gone what is left.
Remember Honda, Ford, Subaru, Mazda, Hyundai and Nissan all build cars as reliable or better than Toyota - as stated by TrueDelta, JD Power and Consumer Reports and that was before these latest fatal issues.
gmhellman says:
06:33 AM, 01/30/2010
Did we all forget the ads during the GM/Ford/Chrysler senate meetings and the bailout of the american auto industry? I remember huge ads in local papers and on TV touting Toyota reliability and that their vehicles were still being made in America. That their companies were solvent and Toyota dealers giving huge discounts to anyone trading in a Ford/GM/Chrysler vehicle. Weren't they taking advantage of car dealers making in a time of need. Hasn't Toyota built their empire on American's buying their vehicles because they were better made? But, yet there are reports of Toyota patrons being told by their dealers to not drive their vehicles until they are fixed, no parts being available and the Toyota call centers not even taking customer calls because they are "too busy". The president of Toyota even took until Friday to respond to this massive recall and his comment wasn't even remorseful or accepting fault by Toyota. Toyota engineers cannot even agree on what is causing the problem if it is the electronics or the foot pedal assembly itself. They are sending out parts that they believe are the cause of the problem. In the end the same problems will happen for Toyota that plauged GM and Ford. Toyota customers will just accept them since they believe that they are buying a better car. In the end if a customer is happy with their vehicle they will stay. It is just a truly sad state of affairs in this country when a corporation will not own up to the fact that they made a mistake. Toyota will fix the problem, but they won't say it was their fault. The statements will continue to be vague and the vendor although at fault, will take the brunt of the blame. Toyota should look at their QC with their parts distributors first; just because it is less expensive doesn't mean that it is necessarily a good buy.
arock says:
05:12 AM, 01/30/2010
FORD/ GM if you would have made reliable cars like toyota, your customers wouldn't have left you in the first place and you wouldn't have to lure toyota customers. People are smart and they know what to do. you can't simply break the loyalty unless you make cars having people in your mind rather than profit
skw0123 says:
10:25 PM, 01/29/2010
Good job by Honda here. Recalls are an unavoidable fact of life for car manufacturers, and for one car maker to try to take advantage of another's misfortune is pretty short sighted. There is no guarantee this accelerator pedal fiasco isn't going to spread...