Toyota working hard to restore its reputation
“Sudden unintended acceleration” might sound like a potential side effect for one of the prescription drug advertisements you see on TV these days, but in fact, if you do feel you are experiencing it, you should call your dealer (as in new and used car dealership) before you have to call your doctor. In the last few months, Toyota Motor Corp has dominated the auto industry headlines for the wrong reasons. They have had to recall about 6 million vehicles in the U.S. for mainly “sudden unintended acceleration” caused by a sticking accelerator pedal. There are reports that as many as 52 deaths are linked to these issues since 2000. And then if that’s not bad enough, the latest development for the embattled auto giant is that there could be steering issues on the Corolla subcompacts. When it rains it pours.
Chastised for sitting idly by as complaints were coming in, Toyota President Akio Toyoda and other executives are now making the U.S. congressional rounds, attending three hearings in less than two weeks, to make themselves available to a very fearful public. Toyoda and his men are, in effect, working to calm consumer fears and restore Toyota’s reputation as a safe, reliable, and affordable automobile. There are currently voluntary recalls on 2010 Priuses and the Lexus HS250h to update software in the vehicle’s anti-lock brake system and Toyota will also be mailing notification letters to Prius owners in the coming weeks.
In addition to this public step, as you drive by your local dealership/Toyota service center, coming home from a Saturday night dinner and a movie, you might notice it lit up with employees hard at work inside. In response to this trying situation, many dealers are extending service hours and adding more weekend service; there are even those going above and beyond that are staying open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Perhaps there’s a sign out there that reads: “At Newark Toyota, brakes come before breaks”.
In all honesty, though, it will take more than mere slogans or the lip service of the President sitting before congressional committees to restore Toyota’s once strong standing in the eyes of the U.S. car buying public, but it would seem that now that Toyota has acknowledged problems do exist they are on the right road to repairing these damages and preventing future ones.
