The Toyota name and logo are reflected in Prius on display during the first Media preview day of the Chicago Friday. (Photo by Frank Polich/Getty Images)

By M.J. Grandinetti | Bob Carter, vice president of North American sales for Toyota, said the automaker nearly canceled its introduction of the 2011 Avalon in Chicago, “but it was important to show consumers we are out in front of the recall situation.” “The Chicago show is critical for Toyota because it will let us gauge consumer reaction to the recalls,” he said.

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Carter said all the recall parts needed to address the sticky accelerators as well as the software change for the Pruis brakes were at the dealers now and repairs we being made on 50,000 cars a day.

He said some 70,000 cars of those at dealers when sales were suspended — out of a total 210,000 on the lots at the time.

He refused to comment on the pending litigation and said the production shutdown was strictly to get necessary parts to dealers for current owners.

He also railed at the notion that Toyota’s woes were caused by the automaker’s huge production ramp-up during the last several years. Carter also and tried to make a fine distinction between Toyota and its New York dealers group over the latter’s decision to pull its advertising from ABC over negative reports

No Schadenfreude at Honda
Continuing the cautious tone over the Toyota recalls, Kurt Antonius, assistant vice president of public relations for Honda North America, said Honda is not actively taking advantage of the situation.

Noting his own company’s recall this week of 378,000 2001-02 Accords, Civics, Pilots and CR-Vs over air-bag issues, Antonius said “recalls are nothing new. Recalls are not uncommon. We don’t like it but we have to deal with it in the best way possible.”

GM hopes to benefit from Toyota woes
GM hopes to capitalize on Toyota’s quality problems the old fashioned
way — with the best cars, said Mark Reuss, president of GM North
America, at the start of the Chicago auto show.
 
“As an
engineer, I feel for what they are going through,” Reuss told the
Midwest Automotive Media Association breakfast, the kick off to the
Chicago Auto Show media preview. GM hopes this will make some customers
consider it, Reuss added, “then we can win on our own merits.”

In discussing those merits, he pointed out that only 505 of 439,000
cars sold were returned under its recently concluded return program.