It looks as though this giant may be on the edge of a potential class-action lawsuit. Both World News, and Nightline will be airing stories tonight discussing the new found reasoning behind the throttle-stick issue.
For my loyal readers I'm sure you have noticed I'm not a huge Toyota fan. While some swear by this brand, I have always questioned their strategy and ethics. Not to mention I don't care for bland and unoriginal design, but that's just my opinion.
I'll pass on the Corolla's utilitarian "A to B" design, or the Tundra's obese looks with cam-breaking reputation. I do like the Lexus IS, and the new LFA supercar. The FJ isn't bad, but turned me off after hearing of it's low-teens MPG average.
Picture of claimed throttle sticking issue
Fast forward to 2009 where a throttle issue was brought to surface on several Toyota models. Toyota finally took action after an off duty California Highway Patrol officer and 3 members of his family died. They were in Santee on Rte 125 when the car revved uncontrollably taking the car to over 120mph. The vehicle hit an SUV and went over an embankment before bursting into flames, killing all 4 occupants.
More have died and not due to a floor mat jamming the gas pedal. 4 people outside of Dallas died after their throttle stuck causing them to crash upside down in a pond. What was shocking was the fact that the floor mats were found in the vehicle's trunk. A practice most owners were informed to do while waiting for replacements.
These and more than 60 other new cases in the past year have prompted this incident to be further investigated. How could this happen from a company that everyone associates with safety and reliability? Could it be the drop in quality due in part to their race to overtake the number one global manufacturer thrown from General Motors? That happened a few years back, but was short lived since VW's merger with Porsche.
For more information on Toyota's sticking throttle issue, visit: ABC News story
Drive Safe, Lance
The multitude of Toyota recalls are causing considerable damage to their brand equity. 2.3 million automobiles in the US to correct sticking gas pedals. over 4 million motorcars in the US to rectify pedals getting lodged under floor mats. nearly 700,000 automobiles in China as a result of imperfect electrical window switches. Toyota boss on TV to apologise for recall and still the media stress more concerns as the company gets more worried. I wonder how much brand value this has cost the company.
This is a topic I just couldn't pass by without adding my opinion. I have worked for an automotive supplier for the last 21 years. Toyota is our largest customer. We also supply to 2 of the big three and other asian transplants. I worked in production (4 years), engineering test lab (5 years), materials lab (10 years), and finally ended up as a quality engineer for the last 2 years. I know first hand what kind of quality Toyota builds and expects from their supplier base. I have bit my tongue as others have speculated on what kind of company Toyota is. I have also been surprised to hear loyal Toyota owners stand up for this company. Americans that work for Japanese companies are not selling out, they are buying in. I believe that the Father of Quality, Mr Deming, tried to teach Americans how to produce quality products. When American manufacturers would not listen, he took it to Japan and since then America has had to put up or shut up.
Back to Toyota, the electronic throttle problem. To develop this technology, Toyota has to simulate the life of product and also system compatibility. This means they have to test the product alone and again in a system such as throttle + AC condensation + time + environment + different models. Because of the complexity and amount of varibles involved in the design of experiments, all automotive manufacturers come up with testing standards that have produced statistically proven results over many years. With the growing rate of customer demand for greater technology, the cost of testing (and research and development) has grown exponentially. Does this mean they and everybody else sacrificed quality? Maybe, but I think in most cases they go above and beyond normal testing so that anything that falls outside the natural defect curve is detected. Unfortunately there was no safety backup to cut the power when brakes were applied during the stuck throttle/acceleration problems. Did Toyota know about the problem and not fix it earlier because of dollars versus potential human casulties (like the Pinto gas tanks?), or did they think the added cost of software and hardware was not cost efficient? We may never know the real answer but either way the end result is not isolated to one automotive manufacturer.
When the dust settles a little bit, I think we will see all car manufacturer's reputations suffer. When this happens it will bring greater expectations and demands from consumers thereby increasing the cost to the consumer.