Over the past 12 months, I’ve been consistently harsh on a couple companies due to their exposure to silent problems. One of these companies is Toyota Motor Company. As is commonly the case, as one silent problem is exposed, suddenly another, then another and another begins to surface. Its as if the dike has been breached and is at risk of crumbling apart.
Today, Toyota announced an0ther recall. The second recall pertaining to dangerous acceleration in some of its vehicles. It stated:
DETROIT, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Thursday it would recall millions more vehicles in the United States, its second massive recall in four months, this time to fix potentially faulty accelerator pedals. The newest recall, affecting 2.3 million vehicles, marked an acknowledgment that potential problem with dangerous acceleration on Toyota vehicles run deeper than the automaker had first announced and broadened a recall that already ranked as its largest ever. The recalls have damaged Toyota’s reputation for market-leading quality and safety at a time when the automaker’s U.S. sales remain under pressure. Toyota had previously maintained that there was no evidence of a mechanical fault linked to reports of unintended acceleration that prompted the recall of about 4.2 mllion vehicles last year.
Toyota has lost its sales momentum, its quality distinction and its marketing muscle. In essence, Toyota is simply another me-too car company with nothing exciting to sell or a competitive advantage to tout. As I’ve noted here, here, here, here, and here. But more importantly, its brand reputation for quality over the past year has been bruised badly. Toyota is lost because many of the silent problems it has been avoiding and neglecting for years is engulfing it. As I’ve shown previously (see chart), there is a direct correlation between business performance and silent problems. And its my belief that the silent problems of years past is beginning to engulf Toyota, with more without warning events yet to surface.
What should Toyota do?
Unfortunately, the leaders at Toyota don’t know what they don’t know. First, they need to begin at the basics by asking employees what is really going on. What problems in your area have we been avoiding? What problems are being neglected? My guess is the Toyota culture that use to be great was built around open communication. Now its down to finger pointing. So my suggestion is to get back to basics and begin to inventory the silent problems inside the organization, and then create a strategy around how to solve them.
Tags: Silent Problems, Toyota, Without Warning
