As if Toyota's recent recall of 9 million cars worldwide due to an accelerator defect wasn't enough of a disaster for the company, the Japanese automaker announced Thursday that it was now also investigating its hybrid-electric model, Prius, for breaking problems. The Prius is also the subject of a U.S. investigation.
The Prius is Toyota's wildly popular "green car," which has been a huge hit with environmentalists and eco-friendly Americans. 1.2 million have been sold worldwide since 1997, about half in the United States. The company said the new Prius experienced "a slight unresponsiveness" of the brakes, a glitch caused by car's unique dual-breaking system which can result in difficult transitioning between the two.
Toyota overall has always earned among the highest safety and maintenance ratings, becoming the engineering, productivity and financial envy of the troubled Detroit-based American auto industry. So to be recalling nine million cars for faulty gas pedals, and drawing the Prius into the automaker's woes over braking problems, is indeed a crisis of epic proportions. Toyota's once-stellar reputation is at stake, and for the first time it's become incredibly vulnerable to the competition.
Adding to the company's troubles, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urged owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving their cars immediately, but when pressed by reporters he claimed his statement was misinterpreted.
To be sure, Toyota's crisis is the biggest gift to American automakers since the government's bailout almost eighteen months ago. If Detroit is smart, we'll be hearing a lot of "Buy American" very soon. And, the industry must pounce on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kick a hybrid when it's down, and use this rare window to accelerate production and marketing on its own hybrid vehicles and grab some much-needd market-share. Maybe even take the lead someday in the green-car space. But does Detroit have the savvy, resources, and resolve to fully capitalize on this unprecedented gift? Only time will tell.
Steve Parker: Toyota - Why It's all Happening Now
Toyota pioneered the "Q circle" system, which involved workers at all levels tackling problems in small groups. The "Toyota Way" became almost a religion within the car business.
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This current recall of more than 2 million vehicles has Toyota drivers either stranded or risking injury driving to work.
If you feel you were the victim of unintended acceleration, please consult this Web site for important legal information: http://www.toyota-class-action-lawsuit.com/
Toyota is also set to announce a recall on nearly a quarter-million Prius cars due to a malfunctioning brake system.
Ha ha! This is as much hype as the swine flu. 245 million doses were created in no time. Wow. What speed and efficiency by big pharma! I'm being sarcastic. And it cost the american tax payer over 6 billion dollars. Now add that to the 24 billion in subsidies we gave big pharma a few years ago. WTF!
In the end the real truth will come out. It wasn't as bad, not even, as the american media made it out to be.
Do they need to feast on carrion to fatten themselves?
Toyota's plight is yet another B-School case study in the making. The crop of former students who ended up at the top of GM, Ford and Chrysler didn't quite master their own case study assignments when they themselves were B-Schoolers. Hence massiv bailouts, government takeover, and executive reshufflings. Ford was better than the others. Maybe their guys did their homework in their days at B-School while the other guys were more rah-rah than hit-the-books.
That's one hell of a gigantic IF!
Listen: http://www.cardealerreviews.org/?p=247148
1) Toyota has a huge reservoir of good will.
2) Toyota’s reputation is strong across the board.
3) Consumers respond well when companies say they are sorry and fix things quickly.
4) People buy cars via comparison shopping, and Toyota still compares very well to all other manufacturers
5) Most cases of sudden acceleration will turn out to be driver-related.
More here: http://www.blog.vanno.com/