Toyota

Toyota's recent quality issues continue to perplex anyone, as ‘quality’ and ‘Made-in-Japan’ were synonymous, almost. (In Y2008, we found 4-yr Used-Toyota Corollas priced higher than the new Nissan Sentry we bought). Not only Toyota was a standing example of the Japanese quality of craftsmanship; even in the professional side, Quality Assurance professional worldwide (like our Arvind) are aware of Toyota's association with quality management guru Taguchi and an approach to quality using 'Taguchi Models'. (Pic shows Toyota's first model built in 1936)

Yet, nothing came to the help of Toyota when the Lexus accident in San Diego killed the driver (an off-duty Patrol Officer) and all the passengers, allegedly due to sudden, unintended acceleration. There are rumors that in a frenetic 911 call voices of passengers shouting ‘pray' 'accelerator pedal got stuck' etc. got recorded. There is also rumor that another guy who was loaned the same Lexus a week ago had reported uncontrollable over-speeding to the dealer. The issue got serious as Toyota President was forced to offer testimony at a Govt committee. With politicians in the picture backed by congressional hearing, and with a number of attorneys eagerly queuing up holding million-dollar class-action suits .... not only that Toyota is in trouble; but also we, the 'commoners', will never get to know the truth!

Initial reports suggested the issue was with the floor mats that trapped the accelerator pedal causing unintended acceleration. Then came pics showing Toyota servicemen fixing software bugs using some fancy hand-held devices. Where is the problem (if at all there is one)?

The issue has all the makings of a ‘US drama’. With the victim’s mother begging Toyota to build safer cars getting televised nationwide, the Toyota President had to come up with an emotional speech as well -"My name is on every Toyota car. You have my personal commitment that..." (He is the grandson of Toyota's founder, who started selling cars around the same time our Ambassador was 'launched' in India). His testimony wouldn't give a hint of where the problem was.

People here in Japan do not actually believe Toyota's quality issue is so serious warranting such a political intervention and media outcry. A majority believe Toyota is being grilled unnecessarily -especially when America's proud automaker GM had gone bankrupt not long ago. Japanese newspapers quote a a Govt report released last week by NHTSA that investigated the 'unintentional over-speeding' as complained by a number of car drivers; this report placed Toyota as having the most number of such problems, but Ford was not good either. (Ford came second in the list, next only to Toyota). Yet Ford’s name doesn’t show up anywhere in the issue.

The last time there was such a sensational coverage of an auto, it was Ford SUV Explorer. A faulty design of Firestone tires fitted on Ford Explorer caused rollovers leading to some 150 deaths. Ford ‘escaped’ blaming it on Firestone. Let’s see what Toyota comes up with…

And back in India, till now a bulk of cars come with no seat belts!
Apparently, we believe more on ‘destiny’ than on ‘safety’ !