Toyota Operations Improvement Plan Essay

The product that Toyota was introducing to the consumer was not ground breaking and did not set itself apart from any other product on the market, not only did it not set itself apart it was producing vehicles that closely resembled the competition. Toyota was losing their competitive edge of reliability because other companies were able to replicate their efficient production and reliability and have the same success they Toyota previously held. The customer base for Toyota was not growing and more of a following due to loyalty to their past performance. The company had also lost its innovative edge and with this was losing its market share. I see due to Toyota’s lack of initiative by not moving more manufacturing to the US and innovation as an opportunity to enter the small car market that was previously dominated by the Japanese manufactures. With all this said Toyota still had a great reputation for producing a very reliable product, with this reputation Toyota could be one change away from becoming a major player

During a crisis here at Totoya automotive manufacturer, our goal will be to communicate facts as quickly as possible. We will form a Crisis Response Team at our Regional location, and at all of our manufacturing and sale sites. We will strive to update information as circumstances change, to ensure the safety of the community and the continued operations of automotive manufacturing. We will be mindful of how we communicate in a crisis. Our approach will affect the global reputation of our company operations and vehicles. We realize that in a crisis, people will presume us to have more information than we may actually have. At Toyota,

As if this weren’t enough, quality problems mounted week after week. Only months later in February 2010, the NHTSA revealed that it had received claims citing another life threatening defect in the break system for the Toyota Prius. More than 400 thousand Prius recalls resulted. In April of 2010, customers reported handling issues in the Lexus brand which resulted in another recall of 9,400 Lexus cars and a “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” rating from Consumer Reports. Also in April, the company voluntarily recalled Siennas to address a problem with corrosion on a spare tire cable. Later that month, Toyota voluntarily recalled 2003 Sequoia SUVs to improve the stability controls. 2010 Tacomas were also recalled for defective front drive shafts. Once the quality icon, Toyota had hit a really low point; so low that credit

Unfortunately, the recalls caused many economic issues for Toyota. Toyota decided it was best to suspend the production of eight models affected by the sticking accelerator pedal to ensure no more defective vehicles were sold (Ellis, 2010). The shutting down of manufacturing showed customers that Toyota is fully invested in fixing the issues no matter what the cost. In addition, the cost of suspending the production of vehicles was the cost to fix all defective parts. It is estimated that this recall cost Toyota two billion dollars and caused their shares to fall 2.3% (Popper and Hirsch, 2010). Toyota also now faced the challenge of earning back the title of the world’s largest automaker.

Creating a brand is one of key things that each company should create and fight for. Creating brand and strong personality is a piece of the chain that one company can’t live without. This is a case where we are going to research and discuss the brand image and maintenance of the brand of Porsche Company. Porsche has well established brand image of a company that produces sports cars with high quality. This brand image was put on test when Porsche Cayenne was realized.

Toyota has been one of the most trusted and dependable names in the automobile business. In late August 2009, Mark Saylor, an off duty cop, was traveling in Southern California with three of his family members, when his 2009 Lexus ES350 started to accelerate on its own. One of his family members called 911 and said the car had no brakes and they were going well over 100 mph. Mark’s car would hit another car and fall down an embankment where it would catch fire and kill everyone in the car. Investigating started and in mid the late September investigators believed the cause of the accident was wrong floor mats might have been installed in Mark Saylor’s Lexus. This was a shock to the US consumers that wrong floor mats were leading to fiery crashes. Toyota decided in late September that they were going to recall 4.2 million Toyota’s and Lexus because of faulty floor mats and sticky gas pedals. In October of 2009 the LA times published several stories that involved the accelerator problem with Toyota. There were nine separate investigating done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), five cases that resulted in fatalities, and hundreds of complaints filed to the federal government. Toyota being one the best automobiles in the world let this go by the way side and it cost them dearly.

In the event an unsafe or defective product has been released to the public, a product recall is issued by the supplier. The government agencies associated with product recalls consists of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to name a few. Over the past 20 years, notable recalls have occurred in the automobile, drug, and consumer electronics industries. In the early 2000’s Ford and Firestone Tires issued a recall of 6.5 million Firestone Tires on Ford vehicles. The defective tires resulted accounted for 1,400 complaints, 240 injures, and 90 deaths in the United States. Likewise, Toyota witnessed a massive recall from 2009 to present resulting in a recall of over 10 million vehicles. A result of numerous issues including stuck gas pedals and faulty airbags. The drug industry has also been at the forefront of devastating recalls. In the early 2000s, the drug manufacturer, Merck (MRK) recalled arthritic medicine, Vioxx, which increased the risk of heart attacks. The financial consequences cost Merck $4.85 billion in settled claims and lawsuits. Recently Keurig, coffee machine manufacturer, recalled 7.2 million single service brewing machines due to claims of overheating. Regardless of the industry which the recall occurred, it is evident that each company has withstood financial and reputation costs.

With the recent Toyota recall of a well-known model due to quality problems, the risky shift phenomena were partly responsible for the huge outcry for and against Toyota. There were the ambassadors who claimed that Toyota did the right thing by taking in and refitting the quality-problem parts; and then there were the opposing realists who claimed that Toyota has lost their touch, as they always claimed quality and reliability, and were in the first instance trying to cover up and lie about the defect on the model. Therefore it is safe to assume that consumers behaviour were affected by

This journey took a toll on its quality Management Principles that led to numerous recalls on its product due to defective parts that causes safety concerns. (www.toyota-global.com, 2014)

Toyota has again found itself having to recall a significant number of its cars due to product fault. This has caused raising of questions over its brand its reputation.

We agree with critics that Toyota sacrificed its quality to become global market leader. Because, they forgot their core competencies and put aside the value of quality that they created for their customers. The company is at the point of losing its quality edge because the quality and safety are the most important features of automobiles. Although, Toyota has a reputation for a long time in the industry, this reputation is fading due to customer complaints and dissatisfaction. According to Fisher “It takes a very long time to establish a reputation for safety and reliability. It doesn’t take very long to lose it.”. It is a very valid proposition especially according to today’s market. Because, buyers have various options between the car manufacturers. Total quality management concept and lean manufacturing are discovered by the competitiors of Toyota. It means that, Toyota is not the only player who concernes about quality and customer. The roles in the game are changed and current competitors improve themselves according to the customer expectations and put customer into center of their business. So it is a tough environment for Toyota to gain their customer loyalty

Abstract Purpose: the main purpose of this study is to find out about the recalls of Toyota vehicles which lead to the death of some innocent lives. The recall was due to unintended acceleration. Toyota ultimately recalled millions of its cars for floor mat issues, brake problems and "sticky" gas pedals. Methodology: Data was collected online, by the help of some selected search engines. Information was collected from Toyota’s national website as well as other private sites. Findings/results: Most organization should seek for customers or consumer’s satisfaction rather than targeting of making high profit. Arrogance and choosing to ignore quality warnings when

Toyota Motor Company is one of the world’s leading auto manufacturers. The Company is headquartered in Japan. It employs over 172,000 workers in the United States, to include personnel at production facilities and dealers. The automaker also produces Lexus and Scion brands. The Toyota Group includes Toyota Industries and Toyota Motor Company. The Company has attained near legendary status in the industry with its speed to market capabilities, lean manufacturing programs, and groundbreaking technology. The Company’s continuous improvement production process was the trademark of its success. More than 20% of its market value has been lost due to a recall of accelerator pedals that stick. The Toyota recalls were not the largest in the history of auto manufacturing, and the Company should have handled the situation differently (Parnell, 2014).

Lately, people most concerned about the recall event which happened on the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers, Toyota. This event affect all over the world including China, USA, Europe. The incident makes the corporate brand image dropped and also loss the consumer confidence. Why this event did occur? During the research and analysis, the major cause of Toyota’s recall is the quality issues. For example the accelerator pedal problem, many different types of car were recalled, like RAV4, Corolla and Venza and even some very good quality cars, like Lexus. In this case, from suppliers to the manufactures all have quality problems.

Challenging all the company stood for, in 2009, Toyota faced a series of recalls that would test their resolve and force the organization to examine their culture, methods and overall practices. The end of 2009 brought a recall of over 3.8 million vehicles for Toyota. Triggered by a deadly accident from an apparent stuck accelerator, reports of similar instances began pouring in. Publicity was brutal following the ordeal and the repercussions for Toyota were