Toyota Troubles and the Price of Progress

It’s difficult to pin down when Toyota’s troubles began. State Farm, the US’s largest auto insurer said it alerted regulators in late 2007 about reports of unexpected acceleration in Toyota vehicles, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it received similar complaints as early as 2003. In September 2007, after an NHTSA investigation, Toyota recalled 55,000 Camry and ES350 vehicles to replace floor mats. Since then the list of Toyota recalls has (shall we say) accelerated:

The ‘Sticky Accelerator Pedal Recall’ affecting eight models to fix the “possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may return slowly to the idle position or stick in a partially depressed position.”
The ‘Anti-lock brake system (ABS) Brakes Steering Hose/2010 Prius Recall’ to fix inconsistent brake feel during slow and steady application of the brakes on rough or slick road surfaces. The Lexus HS 250h, having a similar ABS component design was also included.
The ‘Power Steering 2010 Camry Recall’ to fix in those models with 4-cylinder engines, a possibly faulty power steering pressure hose in the engine compartment.
The ‘Front Drive Shaft 2010 Tacoma Recall’ to inspect for cracks that may eventually lead to the drive shaft separating at the joint portion.
The latest announcement extending a braking system enhancement to more vehicle models to “provide an additional measure of confidence.” (For more details on all these recalls go to www.Toyota.ca.)

How Toyota, for years universally acclaimed as, “the benchmark against which to measure owner satisfaction" has come to such a place is the subject of much conjecture. Too much expansion too quickly to ‘world’s largest car maker’ is one of the most commonly stated reasons. Toyota is charged with being “greedy,” “too competitive,” too ready to spend money on lobbying and political interference, “money that would have been better spent on improving products and fixing problems.”

Such charges have only been fuelled by Akio Toyoda, the head of Toyota and grandson of its founder apologizing to a US Congressional Committee, before which he testified in late February, and claiming “the company may well have put growth ahead of what should have been its top priorities of safety and quality.”

Other commentators are more inclined to the defensive. Recalls are a “fact of life in an automobile industry that is constantly innovating” and the scale of Toyota’s problems is “marginal technical incidents—chance events affecting a few cars out of hundreds of millions.” Some see “Toyota bashing” as serving the US national economic interest—great sport for US automakers, US union leaders and, indeed, the US Government in its role as part owner of General Motors and Chrysler.

Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post offers, perhaps, the most reflective perspective: “even the highest technology produced by the world’s finest companies can be fallible and fatal, and …the intelligent response is not rage and retribution but sober remediation and recognition of the very high price we pay—willingly pay—for modernity with all its wondrous, dangerous bounty.”

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