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Toyota takes one giant step backward
With the recent announcement of Toyota stopping production and sales of eight of their top sellers, many are taking another look at how great our American-made products really are.
How would you feel if you recently bought a Toyota Camry or Corolla, two top selling cars in America, for your son or daughter, as a graduation present? Would you let them continue to drive knowing that the company now admits there is a major problem with the accelerator pedal? What do you do? Park the car? Try to sell it? Buy another foreign car? How comfortable do you feel having a Toyota following you down the freeway? For a company the likes of Toyota to admit this problem, it must be much more serious than being admitted. This is not simply a recall of almost all of Toyota-made vehicles, it is an indication of the serious flaws in Toyota engineering, manufacturing, and products. Can Lexus be far behind? Remember it first came to light that the problem originally started with a Lexus speeding down a California highway, resulting in death of the passengers.
But what does this say about companies that have claimed Toyota builds the Number One car in the world. What does this say about JD Power and Associates, a company built on evaluating everything under the sun? Does this diminish their results? Will their status be tarnished because of Toyota's actions?
Would an American company take such a bold move? Probably not but I contend that an American company would not have that ability or need to take such a step. Our media would be all over an American company had it had the problems Toyota has had. It would have been headlines in every newspaper and on every TV newscast in the country long before a company would have to take the step of stopping sales and production of eight of its models.
In the past, Toyota didn't have recalls, they had service announcements and the announcements usually ended up on page nine in the newspapers and usually didn't get any mention on TV. The media let Toyota get away with this for a long time. Maybe it is time to take a closer look at all companies, not just American companies.
That is my stand, what do you think?
How would you feel if you recently bought a Toyota Camry or Corolla, two top selling cars in America, for your son or daughter, as a graduation present? Would you let them continue to drive knowing that the company now admits there is a major problem with the accelerator pedal? What do you do? Park the car? Try to sell it? Buy another foreign car? How comfortable do you feel having a Toyota following you down the freeway? For a company the likes of Toyota to admit this problem, it must be much more serious than being admitted. This is not simply a recall of almost all of Toyota-made vehicles, it is an indication of the serious flaws in Toyota engineering, manufacturing, and products. Can Lexus be far behind? Remember it first came to light that the problem originally started with a Lexus speeding down a California highway, resulting in death of the passengers.
But what does this say about companies that have claimed Toyota builds the Number One car in the world. What does this say about JD Power and Associates, a company built on evaluating everything under the sun? Does this diminish their results? Will their status be tarnished because of Toyota's actions?
Would an American company take such a bold move? Probably not but I contend that an American company would not have that ability or need to take such a step. Our media would be all over an American company had it had the problems Toyota has had. It would have been headlines in every newspaper and on every TV newscast in the country long before a company would have to take the step of stopping sales and production of eight of its models.
In the past, Toyota didn't have recalls, they had service announcements and the announcements usually ended up on page nine in the newspapers and usually didn't get any mention on TV. The media let Toyota get away with this for a long time. Maybe it is time to take a closer look at all companies, not just American companies.
That is my stand, what do you think?
posted by Brian J Perks at
11:36 AM
9 Comments:
There is really no such thing as a Japanese, American, Korean or Afgani car anymore. This issue speaks more of the sheer number of suppliers involved in what makes up *any* car. The particular part in dispute was manufactured by CTS, a Canadian Tier 1 supplier. CTS has engineered a replacement part but now the damage is done. Seriously Perksie, if this was any other manufacturer they probably would have not reacted with the same vigor as Toyota.
This speaks more to the pressure OEMs place on their suppliers for cheaper and cheaper parts. As a Tier 1 I supplier, I can assure you this could have happened to anyone.
The real story here is the *unrealistic* pressure placed on suppliers. It was bound to happen.
Brian,
I agree with Ben. There is a lot of pressure on suppliers to get parts to the assembly line on time because the auto manufacturers have parts coming in from all over the world and are on a very tight schedule, they don't keep much stock at all in reserve and any delay will cost a lot of money. I'm surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen more often.
I'm also not sure that American car companies would have reacted the way Toyota did.
It took Pontiac 5 years to admit that the '84 and '85 Fiero had an engine fire problem and recall them. I don't remember the media raking Pontiac over the coals even though the problem was apparent long before Pontiac finally did something about it.
The F body Camaros had a horrible sudden-acceleration problem but I don't remember a media furor over it. I also don't remember a recall, or even a warning from GM.
The axles on the Ford Escort snapped like twigs for almost the entire production run of that vehicle yet there was no outrage, nor was there much talk of it from Ford.
Camaros and Mustangs used to be good for only a few Michigan winters because road salt rusted out the rear shock towers so bad that the shocks would punch right through them. Practically no action taken by the manufacturers and no media scrutiny.
I know those aren't recent examples but our car companies have a track record of dodging problems and our media has a history of letting them get away with it. Lack of reporting of problems today doesn't mean that there truly aren't any problems.
Well, based on this recent news, it appears it will be a Honda in the driveway this year.
Ben and William, thanks for your comments. It is nice to hear the real story but why doesn't the news report these facts?
I am still not sure I feel comfortable having a Toyota following me down the road.
And Paul, that is why America is great today, we get to have choices that many countries don't have. It's called freedom, soon only at a movie theatre near you.
Brian,
I was wrong about the Fiero recall. It took 3 1/2 years, not 5 years.
I understand that there are pressures applied to Tier 1 suppliers to produce more parts cheaper, more efficiently and all that but who is responsible for accepting the design? Who did the original design? Who spec'd the part(s)? Is the Tier 1 supplier totally at fault? Did the Tier 1 supplier skimp on quality? Or material? Some questions for which we will never have an answer but Toyota will pay for a long long time.
Brian,
Ultimately, the auto manufacturers are responsible. All the various suppliers do is work with the designs given to them by the end user. In many cases, especially Tier I and Tier II, the suppliers don't have any say at all in cost or quality of materiel because they are contracted to the OEM, and the OEM makes the decisions as to what materials can and cannot be used. They are paid for a service and just work with the parts that are shipped to them. In many Tier I cases they don't really manufacture anything, they just assemble parts. Quality Control isn't actually handled by the OEM, but it is overseen by them. The assumption is that by the time parts reach the assembly line, the final assembly and the component parts have been through QC at least twice. Due to time pressures some parts get passed up the chain that shouldn't have been because if the supplier doesn't meet the quota on time they don't get paid and may lose their contract.
This is just my opinion, but GM is the company that is going to have serious issues due to the way they handle this process. From what I've witnessed of GM supply chain and QC processes I would never, ever buy a GM product for a loved one. If you think this Toyota thing is bad just wait until GM's time comes.
So why is Toyota trying to pass the buck and blame CTS for their poor design and faulty engineering. And while I am at it, how come no one is mentioning Lexus. The original problem occurred on a Lexus with 4 people speeding on a San Diego freeway but now it is just a Toyota problem. What happened to Toyota's Quality Control?
Brian,
The most recent news I've read on this says that Toyota has known about this problem for at least three years. If that is the case, they are now open to significant legal action. My guess is that Toyota is trying to establish some sort of deceptive behavior on the part of the supplier and at the same time prevent current sales from dropping too much. I don't think that will work for reasons I've already mentioned.
CTS either built a part using Toyota specs or designed a part which was OK'd by Toyota. Either way, Toyota is ultimately responsible.
As for the media, your guess is a good as mine. I don't think they've ever done a good job with these types of stories. Auto manufacturing is still a big part of the economy, maybe they don't want to negatively impact the economy or maybe they're afraid of getting some details wrong, opening themselves up to legal action even if the overall thrust of their stories is correct?
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