Toyota has to respond fast as a public relations campaign has been launched by Saudi Internet activists here to boycott the company for allegedly unjustified hikes in prices of its 2012 model cars and spare parts. Their page on Facebook, entitled “The Popular Campaign to Boycott Toyota 2012”, has so far received 1,634 “likes” and 367 comments. The creator of the page wrote a note about the campaign, saying it is aimed at educating people about the company's negative attributes. He claimed that prices of Toyota cars have gone up by 50 percent over the last five years, and spare parts by 200 percent. He said he wanted to expose the “greed” of such car manufacturers. He urged fellow Saudis to participate. Although the boycott campaign is not about defects found in Toyota cars, one Facebook user accused the company of having defects in the cruise control of its popular 4X4 Land Cruiser. This follows reports in local media about a Land Cruiser's cruise control allegedly malfunctioning and forcing the car to speed up to 210 kilometers an hour. The police reportedly broke the rear window to stop the car, which was being driven at the time from Riyadh to Hafr Al-Batin. The Facebook user claimed that there was a defect in the car despite denials from Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ), a Toyota dealer in this country, that it was not the company that had brought the used car into the country; and that there has not been a single previous report of a cruise-control problem in Toyota Land Cruisers. The Facebook user then quoted a Reuters report, referring to braking and acceleration defects found in 8.5 million Toyota cars in 2010. The user wrote that Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, had even travelled to Capitol Hill in 2010 to apologize to American lawmakers and the public for the problems. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Sunday that car dealers will be responsible for any defect in the functioning of the vehicles not meeting the Saudi and international standards The ministry said it has carefully followed up reports of cruise control malfunctions which could have resulted in tragic accident. Manufacturers and local agents must report any malfunction in the vehicle as per respective regulations, the ministry said. The ministry has requested all car dealers in the Kingdom to comply with regulations, provide causes of malfunctions and outline the steps to be taken to deal with such malfunctions. The ministry also asked motorists who have lost control of their cars due to a cruise control malfunction or other reasons to call 8001241616 or visit [email protected] so the ministry can act against regulation violators. Furthermore, the Consumer Protection Association (CPA) published a statement in which it called on all people affected by this particular issue to get in touch with the society in order to file their complaints. __
