This is another reason why you don't want gubment involvment in owning a "private" corporation. Not that the questioning is unwarranted but it does cause people to question their motives. How far do you take it without looking biased?
Many Americans depend on jobs with Toyota. I must say they interviewed an hourly woman employee at a Toyota plant and she said it best. She said "they take pride in their work and that they felt very bad about what has happened. But they would never intentionally make vehicles that would hurt anyone, our moms and other family members drive these cars and so do we." They should have taken her with them to see congress.
That doesn't mean I trust all of management or engineers involved by any means. They have bonuses, and jobs on the line as well, and there are temptations to hide issues and hope they don't come to a head. I am sure there are bad apples in the mix somewhere, every corporation has them. But demonizing and trying to humiliate Toyota as whole isn't the answer. They will be held financially responsible and some worst if more is found out.
I do however feel the NHTSA is weak and doesn't handle problems the way they should. How many of you have had a problem with a vehicle and did a search and found thousands of people have had the exact same problem and the NHTSA has records of the complaints but no recall has been issued. Some of these issues cover several model years. Do a google check on a "Ford GEM Module", and there are many other examples from all manufacturers. It's a calculated risk they take on these issues. And I think the consumer generally ends up on the short end of the stick. I bet their not done grilling the NHTSA. Somebody there has an appointment to be thrown under a bus.
I will say that Akio Toyoda came here on his own. He wasn't arrogant and if anybody who has worked with the Japanese automaker (and I have) will tell you that they do take these issues very personal. It's a matter of national and personal pride with them. And I guarantee this was very painful for him. I am not trying to forget that people were killed by these mistakes but I don't think we should turn into a lynch mob.
Imagine what the unemployment rate will be if Toyota grinds to a halt. Congress better handle this as fair as can be while making sure it is resolved and I would suggest they stuff the "Grandstanding" garbage in the closet. JMHO