NYT: Lawmakers Cast Doubt on Report That Toyota Called Independent

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/business/21toyota.html?src=busln

By MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: May 20, 2010

Later, Toyota aggressively promoted a 56-page report by the firm, Exponent, to rebut contentions by safety advocates who said that electronic systems in the automaker’s vehicles were to blame for accidents in California and elsewhere.

But several lawmakers said on Thursday that Exponent actually was hired by a Toyota law firm, not the carmaker itself, and primarily to do research that would be used to defend the company, based in Japan, in dozens of suits over cars accused of being defective. The lawmakers said there was no evidence that Exponent was originally retained to conduct a broader independent study, a conclusion shared by the government’s top safety regulator and acknowledged on Thursday by Toyota.

“It’s troubling, because Exponent and Toyota said they were taking a comprehensive look,” Representative Bart Stupak, a Democrat of Michigan, said at a hearing of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.

Although Toyota has called Exponent “an appropriate choice” for an outside reviewer, documents made public by the subcommittee showed the firm had been paid $11 million by Toyota for consulting work from 2000 to 2009. And since December, when Toyota said Exponent was brought in to look at sudden acceleration, Exponent has billed a law firm hired by Toyota for a $3.3 million more, the documents showed.

FULL story at link.