This has been a rough year for the Toyota motor company. During the first part of 2010 news came out about how Toyota had covered an accelerator problem with the Prius. Just a few month ago Toyota recalled a long list of cars because of brake fluid issues. Still I am seeing quite a few Toyota’s on the road.
I am not hearing of any major issues with the Toyota brand in the news. However, Automotive.com does list a very large number of makes and models that have been recalled this year.
At the start of 2010 The Huffington Post report there was a recalls for gas pedals sticking. The Toyota Prius was not in this list. There was quite a large number of other models on the list.
Reuters suggested the issue was actually deeper than what Toyota would admit to having. 2.3 million with potential accelerator pedal issues. Then 4.2 million were actually recalled. This kind of news destroys any confidence in any product especially cars.
Then last October ProductReviews.net reported 1.5 million Toyota’s worldwide having brake problem. It seems that Toyota at the start of 2010 had trouble deceleration and at the end of the year has a problem stopping.
I do not mean to kick a dead horse when they are down. I still see plenty of Toyota’s on the road. Are they crashing in cars, people, and other things. I am not seeing it.
What I have seen is that Toyota has been working hard at fixing their cars along with fixing their image. What I believe hurt them the most was them being in denial.
If you remember at the start of 2010, Toyota as in denial of the problems they were having with the accelerator pedal in the Prius. Last spring there was a set of commercials to let the general public know that they were working hard at fixing the problem. They were even working harder at making their cars safer.
Bottom-line: I know with any fast growing company it is hard to a handle on quality. Especially, when it comes to something as complex as a motor vehicle. Then you add changes like state of the art electronics, which makes the whole vehicle even more complex.
Will I ever look at buy or recommending a Toyota since 2010. Yes, I would. Why? With everything I have seen and read, I truly believe that Toyota is working harder than any other car company, at this time, to make their vehicles as safe as possible.
I would like to close today post with a link to a blog post from last February. It was from Motivated Leader.com. On this blog there some good thoughts concerning what Toyota and it’s leadership has learned from these recalls.
