Toyota Products Failure: Case Study

Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing and production. Toyota's management philosophy has evolved from the company's origins and has been reflected in the terms "Lean Manufacturing" and Just In Time Production, which was instrumental in developing Toyota's managerial values and business methods collectively known as the Toyota Way. In 2010, the Toyota Motor Corporation ranked first by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers OICA with 8.6 million units produced globally. The company confronted a major setback when three separate but related recalls of automobiles by Toyota Motor Corporation occurred at the end of 2009 and start of 2010. Toyota initiated the recalls, the first two with the assistance of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), after reports that several vehicles experienced unintended acceleration, a similar issue faced in 2006 by The 2004 Ford Mustang Cobra, which was recalled by Ford for accelerator pedals that failed to return to idle after being fully pressed. Several vehicles were recalled in the 20092010 Toyota vehicle recalls, which resulted in suspension of production and sales of many of Toyota's most popular models, including the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry, Toyota Tacoma pickups, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Matrix, Pontiac Vibe etc. The 3 major recalls: * floor mat and accelerator pedal recalls, * a separate recall for hybrid anti-lock brake * improper installation of a sensor to measure fuel pressure may cause the sensor to loosen as a result of engine vibration over time, and possibly cause fuel leakage,

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: The first recall, on November 2, 2009, was to correct a possible incursion of an incorrect or outof-place front driver's side floor mat into the foot pedal well, which can cause pedal entrapment. The second recall, on January 21, 2010, began after some crashes were shown not to have been caused by floor mat incursion. This latter defect was identified as a possible mechanical sticking of the accelerator pedal causing unintended acceleration, referred to as Sticking Accelerator Pedal by Toyota. Toyota had announced recalls of approximately 5.2 million vehicles for the pedal entrapment/floor mat problem, and an additional 2.3 million vehicles for the accelerator pedal problem on January 28, 2010. The next day, Toyota widened the recall to include 1.8 million vehicles in Europe and 75,000 in China, the worldwide total number of cars recalled by Toyota stood at 9 million. Sales of multiple recalled models were suspended for several weeks as a result of the accelerator pedal recall, with the vehicles awaiting replacement parts. As of January 2010, 21 deaths were alleged due the pedal problem since 2000, but following the January 28 recall, additional NHTSA complaints brought the alleged total to 37. The number of alleged victims and reported problems sharply increased following the recall announcements, which were heavily covered by U.S. media. Various parties attributed sudden unintended acceleration reports to mechanical, electric, and driver error causes. Some US owners that had their recalled vehicles repaired still reported accelerator pedal issues, leading to investigations and the finding of improper repairs. The recalls further led to additional NHTSA and Toyota investigations, along with multiple lawsuits. Drivers have reported vehicle surges and unintended acceleration under the following conditions: * The vehicle was at idle * The vehicle was in reverse at low speed * The operators foot was on the brake * The vehicle was travelling at a constant highway speed * The vehicle contained no all-weather accessory floor mats * The accelerator pedal was not sticking. The lawsuit claims that Toyota ignored the unintended acceleration problems over the past decade and did not install an override system which could have prevented accidents until the company had no choice but to confront the issue after a wave of reports of unintended acceleration crashes and deaths.

The biggest recall in 2005 was in Japan, also by Toyota, when nearly 1.3 million Corolla cars were recalled for a faulty headlight switch and a host of other problems, according to the Japanese transport ministry. Toyota, since then has been struggling to regain its once solid reputation among buyers for producing reliable vehicles. The biggest damage to Toyotas image has been in the U.S. where its response was seen as dallying. The ballooning number of quality problems that add another dent to its tarnished reputation especially in the crucial U.S. market, along with the other markets in which the company operates globally. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH: Over the past few decades, the overlying mission of The Toyota Motor Corporation has been to "develop and provide innovative, safe and outstanding high quality products and services that meet a wide variety of customers' demands to enrich the lives of people around the world In order to uphold the TMC mission, specific goals and objectives have been identified as the aim of the company in keeping with its beliefs and building on its prior sales and financial success. The three main corporate goals are the following: 1) to steadily increase corporate value as a top management priority, 2) continue to introduce and produce products that fully cater to customer needs, and 3) to become an even more competitive global company. Overall, these intentions translate into increasing sales and profit, maintaining superior quality, and continuing expansion.