To Tell The Truth?

Imagine you are the head of communications at Toyota and this assignment gets dropped into your lap.  What do you do with a situation where a person may have allegedly faked a runaway incident in order to receive a new car?

As a PR pro, do you “out” the person and tell the world that he did this as a stunt to get a free car?

Do you just give the person a “free” car and wipe this situation out of the books?

Does the principle “the customer is always right” apply in this situation?

Do you go to great lengths to expose any wrong-doing, when you have so many other civil lawsuits going against your company?

Would you be irresponsible for not telling the truth in this case, no matter the judgment on the driver?

Toyota is in a pickle. This is a case study no one could have ever dreamed up-but it may have allegedly happened to them, per last week’s runaway Prius incident in San Diego.

Here’s the latest on the story from the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM, 7203.TO) said there are “strong indications” that a dramatic incident on a California highway involving a Prius last week was inconsistent with the findings of the auto maker’s preliminary analysis.

The Japanese auto maker said its engineers completed an investigation of the 2008 Prius driven by James Sikes that was subject to an emergency call a week ago, when the driver reported the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and couldn’t be stopped.

For its part, Toyota said the accelerator pedal in Sikes’ car was tested and found to be working normally. It said the front brakes showed “severe wear and damage from overheating,” with the rear and parking brakes in good condition.

The company also said its engineers believe that the assertion the vehicle couldn’t be stopped with the brakes is “fundamentally inconsistent with basic vehicle design.” An investigation is ongoing.

So the real question becomes, if James Sikes did fabricate the runaway stunt do you accuse him of it?  Is it best to tell the truth in this case.

What a Potential Mess

I believe that Toyota is actually handling this situation well.  Anyone who has been following this incident is aware of Sikes financial status. The guy is heavily in debt and his actions are not consistent with the other runway cars.  I like how Toyota has not come out and accused him of anything and how they are choosing their words carefully to explain the matter…they said that there are “strong indications” that the situation is inconsistent (with the real consistent problem the Japanese auto maker is having – parenthesis are my words and not Toyota’s).

For all the mistakes that Toyota has been making in cheapening the quality of their cars, this “fake runaway” incident is something that needs to be exposed so copy-cat incidents do not flare up.  Toyota is just as responsible handling this case as they are the others.

There have been no accusations made in the Sikes case and everything is alleged.  So allegedly speaking, my heart stops at the thought of others who might attempt a foolish stunt to get a free car.  If Toyota did not expose the potential truth in this situation, they could have a epidemic of sorts on their hands.

Desperation causes people to behave in ways that they never would have dreamed of.  Financial debt breaks the souls and hearts of men-so if one person gets a free car, I hope others don’t try and mimic a runaway car that really isn’t.  But, again nothing has been proven in this case and the Officer who pulled him over said he looked visibly shaken.  So who knows?

But some good did come out of this incident. We all learned through news reports what to do if we have a runaway situation on our hands.  To be truthfully honest here, I don’t think I would have thought of putting my car in neutral if it was me. But now I do know thanks to the news reports telling us how to handle the problem.  I own a 2007 Prius and I have loved my car, but for the first time after this incident I felt afraid driving my car for fear that this same situation would happen, my accelerator would get stuck.

This Toyota situation is like peeling an onion. There’s layers upon layers upon layers that keep getting discovered as to why there was a shift in their quality control.  There is so much that Toyota needs to own up to regarding those who have lost life and limb due to the construction of the car, and on top of all that, for Toyota to have to face alleged “fake” incidents is just as egregious and unnecessary.

If you are not sure how to turn off your car if it speeds out of control, here’s a great video showing you how from ABC NEWS.

As a PR pro, how would you handle such an situation. I’d love for you to share your thoughts.

Until then,

Be safe,

Cindy