Toyota has strategically made its way to become the world’s biggest car company. Toyota’s grip especially firm grip of the US and world car market came through capitalizing on rival’s weaknesses e.g. GM and expansion programs in China and other emerging markets around the world (Maynard and Tabuchi, 2010, p.1). Maynard and Tabuchi describe Toyota’s growth as rather rapid (p.1). In 2009’s J.D. Power Customer Retention Survey, Toyota lost the top spot to Honda, a position it had held for five years (Ignassia, 2010, p.11). By November 2009, Toyota had announced a massive recall of its vehicles that was even by then the largest ever in the in the automotive industry. The recall did not however end there as the company on January 20, 2010 recalled a further 1.1 million vehicles. The recalls were not only in the US but also in China with similar measures being considered in Europe. This surprise step by a company that has a reputation built on providing high quality vehicles came as a surprise especially on learning that vehicles were recalled because they compromised the safety of their owners. For starters, the recall was mainly due to the company’s focus on rapid growth (Maynard and Tabuchi, 2010, p.1).
Toyota’s focus on rapid growth somehow came with deterioration in the quality of its vehicles. Some of the models affected as given by Ingrassia include the company’s Corolla, Avalon and Camry models (p.2). In the US, once it was learned that the vehicles raised major safety concerns the US department of transportation pushed Toyota into making the recall and rightly so (Maynard and Tabuchi, 2010, p.5). In the US alone, 8 of the models recalled make up more than a half of the company’s annual sales (Maynard and Tabuchi, 2010, p.5). Therefore, the company has seriously suffered from these turn of events even the extent of losing its number one position to Honda. So what really prompted this massive recall- the largest ever in the automotive industry- of vehicles?
One of the main reasons is the gas pedals used in the manufacture of the affected vehicles. The fault in the gas pedals is that they stick causing the vehicle to accelerate out of control a situation that is already a cause of death (Ignassia, 2010, p.3). The inbuilt gas pedal mechanism and the materials used to construct it contribute to its sticking. The mechanism is such that it causes reduced tension in the spring of the gas pedal. The reduced tension is what causes the gas pedal to stick. Another reason for this sticking has given by Ignassia is the floor mats used in the recalled vehicles (p.5). The floor mats used in the vehicles- and in particular their sizes- are faulty as they cause a gas pedal grabbing effect that triggers the acceleration (Ignassia, 2010, p.5).
These two reasons can be attributed to one bigger reason. According to Ignassia, as Toyota was expanding it abandoned its culture of never building a new product in a new factory with a new work force (p.6). This approach in making new products for the company was one of its downfalls as it reduced Toyota’s quality control variables (Ignassia, 2010, p.6). Clearly, this unlikely compromise in the company’s quality standards led to the faulty gas pedals. One of the repairs that Toyota is considering is introducing a spacer in the gas pedal mechanism that will cause an increase in the tension in the spring in order to avoid sticking (Ignassia, 2010, p.4).
References
Ignassia, P. (2010). Toyota: Too big, too fast Wall Street Journal. Web.
Maynard, M. & Tabuchi, H. (2010). Rapid growth has its perils, Toyota learns New York Times. Web.