MOST AUTO industry experts believe that the ongoing Toyota enquiry, will set up important lessons and requirements for the future. The onus of the car complaints, safety issues and other trouble which caused large scale Toyota recalls, has partly shifted to the NHTSA, with the Commerce Committee hearing questioning it over why it did not take Toyota Motors to task on the complaints, its a message few automakers will let slide.

John D Rockfeller, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman, said, "NHTSA's actions -- and inactions -- in the years leading up to today are deeply troubling. The American people count on NHTSA to protect them and to provide them with clear and reliable safety information -- and even today that picture is not clear."

Rockefeller pointed out that the NHTSA did not respond promptly and effectively, when the Toyota complaints actually began in 2003. He reasoned that the NHTSA focused more on floormat issues than the acceleration trouble, because it lacked " expertise and desire" to investigate the electronic throttle system for possible trouble.

"I think that NHTSA investigators . . . would rather focus on floor mats than microchips because they understand floor mats," Rockefeller said.

Toyota Motors hasn't been absolved of the blame. JOhn D Rockfeller asked Toyota to examine its motives, saying, "It is clear that somewhere along the way public safety took a back seat and corporate profits drove the company's decisions."