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Harman International won’t comment “on any aspect of the current discussions between Toyota and the U.S. Congress” on the sudden acceleration problems with Toyota vehicles, Harman spokesman Brad Hoffman told us in an e-mail Tuesday. Watchdog groups have singled out…
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Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., the wife of former Harman International Chairman Sidney Harman, as having a conflict of interest for sitting on the House Commerce Committee while owning more Toyota stock than any other member of Congress, according to her latest financial disclosure statement. It says she and her husband also own about $50 million of stock in Harman International, which supplies infotainment systems to Toyota. Jane Harman isn’t on the Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, so she didn’t take part in its hearing Tuesday on Toyota’s acceleration problem. Sidney Harman retired from Harman International’s board June 2008 and neither he nor his wife has “any management involvement in the company,” spokesman Hoffman told us. “Toyota is one of many global automakers served by Harman International, and its share of our business is not material,” Hoffman said. “We also serve such leading brands as Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ferrari, Mercedes, Hyundai, Kia, Porsche, Rolls Royce and Volkswagen, each of which selects their suppliers based on technology leadership and global strengths. An estimated 20 million vehicles on the road today from automakers based in the U.S., Europe and Asia are equipped with Harman audio or infotainment systems.” In November, Harman International said it reached agreement with Toyota to install its new “scalable” infotainment systems in some European car models starting in 2011 (CED Nov 2 p7). Harman International CEO Dinesh Paliwal described the deal then as a “game changer” for his company, since the infotainment system will be in vehicles by 2011, rather than after the typical three-year design cycle. But Harman hasn’t disclosed how many or which Toyota models will have the system. Representatives of Jane Harman didn’t respond right away to requests for comment.