Is Toyota owed a apology?

[Dave]

As many of you know, Toyota was the subject of a massive recall in regards to a problem with the gas pedal sticking. What brought on the recall was a tragic accident where one of Toyota's Prius cars accelerated and couldn't be stopped and caused the car to run off a road and kill the occupants. Many in the media were quick to blame this and that, saying that it was a gas pedal that was stuck and that the electronics in the car were an issue too. After plenty of tax payer money was spent to have NASA researchers study the problem and Toyota paying a huge fine, we come to find out that there never was anything wrong with the cars. The only that could be found to be an issue was that the vehicle in the fatal accident (that was actually a loaner car as there regular vehicle was being worked on) had had improper floor mats on the drivers side (they actually belonged to a SUV made by another manufacture) that were not hooked in properly. The floor mat slid up in front of the gas and break pedals so that when the driver was trying to step on the brake, the floor mat was pushing down on the gas pedal too, causing the vehicle to keep moving.

Some would go so far as to say that members of the current administration might of used the situation to there advantage, trying to give Toyota the black eye while trying to help get the now government owned car company, General Motors, some help cleaning up its image. I'm not sure I totally buy into that suggestion but I suppose there is a possibility that it could have some truth to it.

What's lost in the whole story really is that there are many vehicle recalls done every year, Toyota was more or less signaled out though. In a lot of ways what happened to them wasn't fair and I think in the end, someone, somewhere, needs to apologize to Toyota.

 

Toyota's Recall Crisis: What Have We Learned?

 

In August, 2009, the improper installation of an all-weather floor mat from an SUV into a loaner Lexus sedan by a dealer led to the vehicle's accelerator getting stuck, causing a tragic, fatal accident and launching the most challenging crisis in Toyota's history. This iconic company, synonymous with safety and quality, was vilified by the American press, the government, and expert witnesses to plaintiff lawyers. Details usually unworthy of public attention, such as internal memos disagreeing over public relations strategy, became smoking guns that convinced the press and the public that Toyota vehicles had electronic problems causing runaway vehicles — and that the company was hiding this from the public.

 

The National Highway Transportation Authority (NHTSA), the government arm responsible for enforcing auto safety, came under attack for being too soft on Toyota. So they did what any good American organization does when they are attacked: They got tough and became enforcers. Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, was the toughest, accusing Toyota of being "safety deaf" and vowing to get to the bottom of all Toyota defects that could endanger American citizens. He got help by paying NASA taxpayer dollars to conduct a study that dragged on for 10 months to study Toyota electronics.

 

What did we learn on February 8, 2011 when the report came out? That there is absolutely no evidence of sudden unintended acceleration caused by electronic problems in Toyota vehicles. The only causes NASA found were improperly installed floor mats and sticky gas pedals that can be slow to return. There has been only one documented accident caused by the floor mats — the one involving the loaner Lexus, where the dealer had used the wrong floor mat and failed to attach it properly with the provided restraining clips — and there have been no documented cases of accidents caused by the very small number of sticky pedals. Most accidents have been attributed to driver error.

 

We also learned that the NHTSA knew all along that the only problems were floor mats and sticky pedals, but they had to go ahead with the NASA study to convince members of Congress who believed electronics were the cause of sudden acceleration despite a total lack of evidence to support that belief. Toyota's name was dragged through the mud for over a year, $1.5 million in taxpayer money was spent, and some of the brightest minds in American engineering were occupied for 10 months — just so that NHTSA could prove they were right all along.

 

So who won in this debacle? Journalists who wrote speculative and poorly researched sensational articles got a lot of internet hits. NHTSA got a lot of attention, a larger budget, and a reputation for toughness. It remains to be seen whether the lawyers suing Toyota will get anything. American drivers got a paranoid auto industry that will recall vehicles at the drop of a hat. There will be some positive safety policies relating to how runaway cars are shut off in an emergency, and we all may get "black boxes" that record our recent driving actions. And Toyota got a crisis that drove it to reflect intensively and to make dramatic changes to improve its responsiveness to customer concerns, so likely will emerge stronger — but lost billions of dollars of value in the process.

 

It's hard to believe that our roads are any safer at the end of this extended saga. For that to happen, we would have to rethink the way we deal with safety in the U.S. A first step might be the government and the media learning something from Toyota's systematic approach to problem solving. It starts with some patience in getting all the facts, then prioritizing problems, then looking at them objectively to determine root causes, and finally developing solutions based on the real problems. The NHTSA took a positive step by objectively looking at the NASA data, concluding there was no evidence of electronics problems in Toyota vehicles, and shifting its focus to the important problems of distracted driving and pedal misapplication.

Provided by Harvard Business Review—Copyright © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

I just bought a Toyota Corolla 3 months ago. My logic behind the purchase was the fact even with all the media hype and anti Toyota drivel going on last year they only could come up with a hand full of actual accidents that were possibly caused by a real issue. More of them appeared to be tragic cases of operator error.

I will tell My wife to update this in case I mistake the gas peddle for the break peddle however..

[Willy]

Sorry Dave but I didn't read all of the above information regarding this topic. On that note I think Toyota deserves an apology if in fact they have been vindicated of any wrong doing.

[Dave]

They were vindicated of any issues with the vehicle in question.

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

Dave if anyone ever would apologize to Toyota it would be buried on page 31 of a 30 page press. I have yet to see a lame stream media retract a hit piece on something it wanted to grind home.

[Heather Klondike]

Why do you think Toyota deserves an apology?  It is a company not a person.  All companies are exposed to the risk of bad publicity and public concern.  I think Toyota will be better because of the recent bad publicity.  Go buy one of their vehicles if you think they deserve an apology.  Kindly put your money where your mouth is and actually support their profitability.  That is the only reason Toyota exists is to make a profit.  I do not see anybody here saying I am sorry Toyota.

[Dave]

In the grand scheme of things, if someone does something wrong toward you when in reality you've done something wrong, the right thing to do would usually be to offer an apology.

As far as buying a Toyota goes, the next time I am looking for a vehicle, I'll buy whichever vehicle I see that I like which could be a Toyota or any other brand.

[Willy]

Heather

Your missing the point. Toyota's boss was forced to sit in front of a committee in Washington and endure insults and false accusations about the company. Why don't you think that shouldn't deserve an apology?

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

That would be my point for sure.. congress wasting its valuable time not on U.S. budget concerns but condemning a car company. Then after demonizing the management basically telling them the single handedly neglected safety concerns only to them spend millions of dollars of our tax money only to find the best minds of NASA agree with Toyota's own findings that no electrical problem existed with the product.

If it wasn't the U.S government that did this but another citizen a case could be made for libel. And financial compensation for devaluing their product. You would think all those lawyers up in congress would realize how weak that makes them look.