is Toyota officially the new Audi?

A government report seems to make it official, in that Toyota sudden acceleration problems are NOT due to vehicle electronics.

Now, the floormat issue that Toyota dealt with earlier? I think that was a legitimate problem. Many people, and not just on the Toyotas in question, have had problems with unanchored driver's floormats.

But, surely, that wasn't all the problem. Nor was the accelerator pedal.

Instead, as with Audi, in all likelihood, we had a meme, if you will. (I don't believe in memes in a "robust" sense, but it's a handy talking point.) And, with a much more Net-wired America than when Audi had its problems, plus social networks, social media, etc., Toyota had more of a PR issue on its hands.

It did in another way. Toyota had a quality reputation that could face damage; knowledgeable consumers didn't rank Audi of 20 years ago that high on quality in the first place.

That said, in the aftermath, Toyota still has a customer relations issue of some degree. Let's see how it handles it.