Toyota President Apologizes, Announces 6-Point Plan
Feb. 5, 2010 – The president of the Toyota Motor Corporation today apologized for the auto manufacturer’s recent safety problems and promised to implement stronger quality control standards during the manufacturing process after recalling 2.3 million vehicles in the United States and 9 million worldwide.
“I deeply regret the inconvenience and concern caused to our customers and others by our recent recalls of multiple vehicle models across multiple regions,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda said during a new conference in Nagoya, Japan. “Under the banner, ‘Let’s build better cars,’ we will go back to the basics of ‘customer first.’ All our employees around the world, all of our dealers and all of our suppliers will unify in their utmost efforts to regain the trust of our customers as soon as possible.”
Having recently displaced General Motors as the world’s number one auto-manufacturer, Toyota officials have come under fire in recent weeks for taking their time in correcting known problems on several popular vehicle lines.
Problems with sticking gas pedals forced the Japanese automaker to recall all Camry models manufactured from 2007 to 2010 as well as 2009 through current-year models Corolla, Matrix and the RAV4. Also recalled are the 2005 through 2010 Avalon, the 2008 through 2010 Sequoia and the 2010 Highlander. The recall covers about 9 million vehicles sold in North America, China and Europe. Auto industry analysts estimate Toyota will spend about $250 million to correct just the 2.3 million vehicles recalled in the United States.
Another recall could be issued for the popular Toyota Prius hybrid car, which has been plagued with braking problems.
Officials for the U.S. National Highway Traffic Highway and Safety Administration recently opened an investigation into the high number of complaints received regarding braking issues with the Toyota Prius. Federal officials said say combining all the complaints they have received on all eight recalled 2010 Toyota models wouldn’t amount to half of the 171 complaints already received on the 2010 Toyota Prius. Some 124 of the complaints about the Prius focus on similar braking issues. By comparison, Toyota recalled its Corolla model, which only had 33 complaints thus far in 2010.
In light of the apparent manufacturing problems afflicting the automaker, Toyoda today announced a 6-point plan to improve the manufacturing process and ensure the safety of Toyota owners and their families. Toyoda said he will lead a special company task force focused on improving manufacturing quality through greater oversight, improving communication with customers to identify problems sooner and establishing an “Automotive Center of Quality Excellence” to enhance management oversight of quality-control issues.