The Toyota Conspiracy Theory

A few weeks ago I was watching BNN and in the final twenty minutes of trading, they had a panel discuss an interesting topic: A Toyota Conspiracy Theory. Oddly enough, the conspiracy theory had nothing to do with the cover-up, but the highly scrutinized media frenzy that has resulted from the recall. They mentioned an article that was brought up by a USA Today columnist. Compelling might be an overstatement, but the article brought forward some interesting points. The idea of this conspiracy theory is that US Government and Detroit is involved in a smear campaign, with hopes that GM usurps Toyota and regains their number one status. Blogging Stocks posted their own interpretation of the theory and have also brought up some strong evidence. The site writes "[T]he U.S. government is the majority shareholder in two auto companies, and is charged with regulating all auto companies... a successful turnaround of the U.S. auto industry that leads to minimal losses for taxpayers is an important political goal, not just a business one." Taxpayers have been upset about the bailout of the banks and automakers for quite some time, and a positive return would definitely calm the mood. The USA Today blog also points out that both Toyota and LaHood (US Transportation Secretary) believe that the recalled cars are safe to drive, yet Toyota must stop selling their vehicles. "Imagine a drug recall where the government stops sales in stores, but doesn't tell people to throw away the bottles in their medicine cabinets." Other components of the conspiracy theory is the unprecedented coverage by the US media and the attention of the US Government. The recall actually first occurred on November 7, 2009, yet coverage did not hit the front pages until January 2010, nearly two months after. Toyota's vehicles had been halted from sales in mid-December, according to December auto sales data released. I decided to check the current vehicle recall list and was able to obtain the January 2010 report from the The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website. There are currently 30 recalls, in which ten contain the phrase "could cause death." And yes, Toyota's recall is one of the ten, yet Toyota has received a lot of heat from the media and government for something that is considered user problematic. The idea of a conspiracy is far-fetched. I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, but the three points above do make me question the motive of the Obama administration. Is it truly for consumer protection?