Ray LaHood and Toyota

Obama's Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sent Toyota stock plummeting after he told owners of recalled vehicles to stop driving them.

From the Washington Post:

Shares of Toyota are falling in midday trading following conflicting instructions from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to Toyota owners on what they should do if they fear their vehicles might have faulty accelerator pedals.

In testimony on Capitol Hill, LaHood was asked what he would tell Toyota owners. He replied: "My advice is: If anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have the fix for it."

The comment sent Toyota shares into a 7 percent dive on Wall Street and LaHood scrambled to backtrack from his statement moments later in comments to reporters after the hearing.

Calling his remarks "clearly a misstatement," LaHood said that if Toyota owners are uncertain about their Toyotas, they should take them to their dealers to determine whether they are among the vehicles that need repair. However, even though Toyota says it has shipped repair kits to its dealers, those might not have arrived yet.

Shares of Toyota rebounded slightly following LaHood's clarification, but they are still trading down about 5 percent, well below the overall market performance.

It's another red-letter day for the Obama administration.

Video of LaHood's initial statement.

Transcript

RAY LaHOOD: My advice is: If anybody owns one of these vehicles, STOP DRIVING IT. Take it to the Toyota dealer, 'cause they believe they have the fix for it.

Video of Lahood's "clarification."



Transcript

RAY LaHOOD: No, I thought what I said is what I said earlier this morning with another group of reporters. If you own one of these cars, take it to the dealer. If you're in doubt, take it to the dealer and have them fix it if it's one of the ones that needs to be fixed, or at least have them look at it.

And, so, what I said in there was obviously a misstatement. I, I, I'm, what I meant to say, what I thought I said was: If you own one of these cars, or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer. And they're gonna fix it.

OK? That good enough for everbody?

This is nuts.

"What I thought I said was"?

How could he say "stop driving it" and think he didn't say it?

Talk about a mixed message!

This guy is the Transportation Secretary! What he says carries weight.

He managed to send Toyota stock spiraling downward.

LaHood can't tell people to stop driving their cars and then flip the next moment.

Everyone on the road should be concerned about this problem with the Toyotas. I don't own one of the recalled vehicles, but I don't want someone who does to slam into me because the accelerator sticks. The hazard affects everyone. It's really everyone's problem.