Ford vs Toyota – who has the best ethics?

Recently, Lexus and Toyota ordered a recall on 55,000 floor mats.  Seems that if the owner of the vehicle does not properly hook up the supplied door mats or, adds another floor mat to the driver’s side, there is a possibility they will slide forward and lodge under the accelerator, thus causing the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably.

Now, two points here are important.  One is that Toyota is doing this recall at no cost to the public, and the problem was not caused by Toyota but by owners who either took the mats off the provided safety hooks or, added a second mat which was not properly hooked.

And we should note the following from Consumer’s Report:

“Although this recall affected Toyota and Lexus vehicles, improper mat usage can pose risks in any vehicle. When installing factory or aftermarket mats, follow the directions. If your vehicle has them, utilize the mat anchors; they provide a real safety benefit of keeping the mats secure and out of the way of the pedals. And do not stack a new mat on the old one. The combined height of the two mats or a loose upper mat may interfere with pedal operation.”

Yes folks, Toyota realises there is a POTENTIAL problem caused by the owners and is making alterations to minimize this owner initiated problem.  A problem that can occur in any vehicle.

Now Ford, on the other hand, builds F150 trucks with a leaky front window that can fry the electronics and potentially cause a vehicle to go out of control.  Do they say anything?  No, they keep repairing the electronics and don’t even notify the owners of this problem, let alone have a recall.

ETHICS!!!

Toyota takes the high road and minimizes the risk to the owner while Ford hides the problem and doesn’t even come clean with the owners and repair the damage – window, electronics, nada.

But then, what do you expect from a company that not only built machinery for the Allies but also helped out the Nazis in Germany with Ford plants and then sued the American government for bomb damage to their Nazi plants.

And we still support Ford by buying a product that could be built wrong but Ford won’t do anything about it.  Maybe if there was a death or two that results in law suits.  Seems their ethic level only responds to lawyers.  Both at the same low level.

Ford proves – there is a sucker born every minute

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In the August 5th Toronto Star (the one who knows the Ford problem but won’t say) there is a headline “Ford holding lead as GM sputters”. They show that the Ford sales in July were + 47.4% while GM is – 41.9%.

Now, I was not a supporter of the welfare payment to the auto industry and executives and must admit that at least Ford didn’t beg for government money. No, they have a more effective strategy.

They build vehicles with quality issues (save money?) and then make money in repairing these vehicles they build with the built in errors. They don’t inform the consumer that the vehicle has a fault that will cost the owner thousands of dollars and put their lives at risk – no, that is too ethical.

Remember we are talking a company that supported the Nazi’s in WW2 and used slave labour and then sued the U.S. government for damaging their Third Reich auto plants. Real Americans!!!!  Hmmm. 

So, you can go out and support a company that shafts the consumer, has had Nazi leanings in their internal politics, sold vehicles to the Nazis and sues their own government or, you can support welfare executives at the other big two.  Since we lent them the money, I’d be more inclined to support them to ensure they don’t fault on the loans – not sure if they are as unethical as Ford has proven to be.

Me, I’d be more apt to buy a Toyota.  Yeah, they had a war with us but at least they are honourable and will stand by their vehicle with recalls when necessary.  Ford – shafts you, Toyota helps you.  No brainer here unless your one of the suckers born every minute.

And the CAW – they are working for a company whose owner was pro-Nazi and was anti-semitic and sells vehicles with built-in quality control issues. What does that make their politics?

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Ford and the Nazis – working for a better tomorrow?

I recently read an article written by Michael Dobbs for the Washington Post. In it, there is a picture of German diplomats awarding Henry Ford with their nation’s highest decoration for foreigners, the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, in July 1938. In the article is the following: “Hitler was an admirer of American mass production techniques and an avid reader of the anti-semitic tracts penned by Henry Ford.”I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration,” Hitler told a Detroit News reporter two years before becoming the German chancellor in 1933, explaining why he kept a life-size portrait of the American automaker next to his desk.” They even mention that Ford plants in Germany, along with GM plants made vehicles that were used against American troops. To top it off, Ford wanted compensation for the plants bombed by the Allies in Germany.

Now, I don’t know about you but, I guess this would be the same as Ford helping out the Taliban in today’s world. I mean, here we have a company that won’t back up those vehicles it manufactured with built-in flaws (leaky front window, blowing spark plugs) but has a history of helping anti-semitic regimes to fight against our own country and the USA. Talk about globalization!!!!!!! While Canada was fighting the Nazis, Ford was helping build vehicles to assist Germany fight against the British and Canadians. And, once the U.S. got into the war, they still helped Germany, according to the article.

Now, I know this isn’t pretty news, especially for those saying we should support our local economy and buy American/Canadian but how about Ford supporting its Canadian consumers or, are we just cannon-fodder in Ford’s goal to make money at any cost.

During WWII they used forced labour to build their vehicles in Cologne- here in Canada they shaft consumers with shoddy workmanship. By the way, GM, who is begging for a handout, received $32 million from the US government for damage to their bombed German plants.

Seems that the auto industry likes to cover all the bases. I just hope Ford isn’t still continuing forced labour camps like Cologne. Maybe if you complain too much about your vehicle, they’ll ship you out.