Opinion: What's wrong with Toyota?

Written by Rick DeMeis February 08, 2010 Hits: 516 Favorites

4.0 (1)

Perhaps the company was too good for too long in producing reliable cars that it didn't have experience handling such a volume of bad news.

Toyota floor mat and gas pedal

Let's face it, Toyota's handling of its recent spate of recalls and safety problems has been a disaster, both from a solution and a public relations point of view. First it was hearing of floor mats restricting gas pedal movement causing runaways; then reports of just needing to cut down pedals; now putting shims in the pedal mechanism and questions of software in Prius brakes.

The automaker should take a lesson from the makers of Tylenol how they came back like gangbusters from their deliberately tainted drugs by an overwhelming effort at openness and security measures that reassured the public.

Openness from Toyota has been lacking, starting from the first almost hearsay-type anecdotal stories appearing, then acknowledgement by the company, followed by rumors of solutions, and then more solutions. Toyota should have been open from the get go, not just with its customers but its dealers who often heard more from the media than the company. Maybe it has something to do with the Asian business tendency avoid embarrassment of colleagues or associates. But, decisive action is called for—you have to lay everything out as soon as possible (how long did they know about this string of problems?), then give a specific action and schedule to remedy the situation—to show competence and gain public trust.

But I'll bet, Toyota, if it adopts full openness as to problems and solutions, can come back like Tylenol and restore its brand—so picking up Toyota stock while it's down, providing you have the funds these days, could be a good bet. As could be getting a great deal on one of their cars—or one from a competitor taking advantage of the situation.

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And what about other car makers?

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Reviewed by Dean Solov
February 12, 2010

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Rick, agree with your points about Toyota but wouldn't be surprised if this leads to similar findings about other auto makers. As our government watchdogs come under fire for letting the Toyota safety concerns fly under the radar for so long, I wouldn't be surprised if they beef up scrutiny for other car makers, with more recalls in our future.

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Rick DeMeis