Leave aside whether the US government, majority owner of General Motors, is fit to pass judgment on Toyota. Yesterday’s disclosure that the Japanese carmaker will face an investigation into a five-year-old recall of faulty truck steering relay rods – until the sticky pedals, its biggest-ever product liability problem – signals that its extraordinary efforts to protect US market share will probably have to continue. That is one good reason for management’s subdued outlook as it posted a full-year return to profit.
姑且不論美國政府作爲通用汽車(GM)的大股東,是否適合對豐田(Toyota)做出判斷。昨日有訊息披露,豐田將就5年前的一起召回事件接受調查,該事件涉及卡車轉向拉桿缺陷問題,出現在該公司有史以來最大的產品責任問題(油門踏板阻滯)之前。上述訊息表明,這家日本汽車製造商爲保護美國市場份額所採取的種種特別措施可能將被迫持續下去。儘管豐田恢復了全年盈利,但管理層爲他們不那麼樂觀的前景預測找到了一個很好的理由。