"EVIL EMPIRE" SUSPENDS SALES OF EIGHT TOYOTA MODELS!

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"Oh what a feeling!"

Apparently that's what too many collaborators (customers) of the "Evil Empire" (Toyota) are experiencing when their boring, soulless transportation appliances suddenly rocket forward with furious blasts of "unintended acceleration."

Perhaps a new slogan for Toyota could be "Win on Sunday; Die on Monday" . . . .

The safety SNAFU is serious enough for the Evil Empire to suspend sales on eight recalled Toyota vehicles, according to several wire reports.

Last week, the Evil Empire recalled 2.3 million invading Toyopets. On February 1, 2010, five plants will be idled as Toyota "assesses" solutions to the unintended acceleration fiasco.

The existing vehicles pulled from sale are reportedly:

*2009-2010 RAV4
*2009-2010 Corolla
*2007-2010 Camry
*2009-2010 Matrix
*2009-2010 Avalon
*2007-2010 Tundra
*2008-2010 Sequoia

(Unintended acceleration might be about the only way to make some of those "Boredomathon" sleds remotely exciting . . . .)

These extraordinary steps are probably a shock to the legions of "Consumer Distorts" mopes who believe in Toyota "quality" almost as an article of faith. "Quality" has been the main rationalization sold to fickle and myopic consumers in the Japanese plot to invade and destroy America's automobile industry. Now, millions of Toyotas have been branded hazards to the public and the Evil Empire's short-term sales plan is in tatters.

Sweet!

Certainly, modern automobiles are complex and highly technical products that sometimes need post-sale adjustments and modifications to avoid unintended faults. Thus, every manufacturer has suffered with the problem of recalls.

Nonetheless, Toyota's reputation is now "stuck" with another high-profile quality problem that should eat into its competitiveness in the short term.

Back in the late 1980s, it took Audi years to recover from the taint of unintended acceleration. Let's hope the Evil Empire suffers similarly.

Most likely, Toyota will have a "patch" completed well before the Daytona 500. Then, look for a full-court press by Toyota's P.R. Department to make everyone forget the Evil Empire's quality lapses.

'YODA BLOWS $4.95 BILLION

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More evidence that the formerly invincible Toyota is vulnerable to the "bear market" for light vehicles, is a story posted by the Automotive News

TOKYO -- Cascading red ink in North America and Europe prompted Toyota Motor Corp. today to forecast an annual loss three times greater than what it had projected earlier and seek $5.5 billion in cost cuts.

The world's largest automaker now says its first annual operating loss in seven decades will be ¥450 billion ($4.95 billion) for the fiscal year that ends March 31.

Undoubtedly a fair portion of that cascade of red ink is from 'Yoda's decision to invest heavily in challenging the "Beg 3's" hegemony in the U.S. full-size light truck market.

Reportedly, Toyota will seek to cut costs in research and development, which will pay negative dividends in 'Yoda's quality scores down the road.