CHICAGO — Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles. Honda has recalled nearly 1.5 million. But top Detroit officials, speaking during previews for the 102nd Chicago Auto Show, insist that they are not gloating.
“No one likes to see people suffer,” said General Motors North America President Mark Reuss. “Let’s be clear. I don’t.”
Reuss said the spate of recalls has dragged down the industry as a whole at a time when it is attempting a recovery.
“We have a lot of compassion for what Toyota is going through,” said Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields. “We don’t take any joy in that.”
But Fields said Ford cannot afford to be distracted by the problems at the Japanese automakers, and has to “stay focused” on keeping Ford’s product line fresh and responsive to what motorists want.
In fact, both Detroit giants insist that recalls are a fact of life and that they want to sell cars based on solid engineering and styling, not someone’s misfortune.
About the closest a top Detroit executive comes to talking about seeking an advantage from Toyota’s misfortune is Chevrolet Division President Jim Campbell, who said he is happy to provide short-term rentals to those who have parked their imports.
“There are a number of dealers around the country who have vehicles out to customers who wanted to park their cars until the manufacturer gets them fixed,” he said. “The dealers are working one-on-one with the customers to provide them with some solutions.”
And if that spurs sales, he said, so be it.
“We’ve had a lot of calls from our dealers indicating that they’ve had customer inquiries looking for information and alternatives, so we’ve provided our dealers with a number of tools to handle those inquiries one-by-one,” he said.
By Bob Roberts
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.