A USA Today/Gallop poll recently asked the “Are Toyota’s Safe” question to Toyota owners and prospective buyers. Depending on how you look at the data, it’s either encouraging or discouraging.
Thirty-one percent of Americans now think Toyota and Lexus vehicles are not safe to ride, while 55 percent say the carmaker dragged its feet in responding to potential safety defects, according to a poll published on Tuesday. The USA Today/Gallup survey of 2,021 adults showed fewer doubts among current Toyota owners, with only 14 percent saying the cars are unsafe. A large majority of owners — 74 percent — say they have not lost confidence in the vehicles.
Pollsters said findings also suggest enduring loyalty to Toyota vehicles among prospective U.S. car buyers generally. While 17 percent of prospective buyers said they would no longer consider a Toyota vehicle, 53 percent said they would.
Interestingly, this closely aligns with what I projected on February 8th in the article Can You Trust Toyota? I made the following prediction.
The reason these “Can Toyota be trusted…” questions are important relates to Toyota’s future success or failure. As I read countless news articles relating to Toyota’s problems, it apparent that current Toyota customers fall into 3-categories.
- Faithful Toyota Followers: This group love their Toyota’s, and the many years of dependability, quality and service they have grown to love. This group likely comprises upwards of 50 - 60% of all current Toyota owners.
- Concerned Toyota Owners: This group loved their Toyota, but aren’t quite sure what to think now and they’re concerned. They’re asking the question, “Can Toyota be trusted…” This group likely comprises 20-30% of Toyota owners.
- Discouraged Toyota Owners: This group feels they’ve been betrayed. They’re reading the news reports and are concerned and possibly frightened. They don’t feel like Toyota has been true to the image they portrayed. This group comprises 10-20% of Toyota owners, and is growing.
The next couple of months is critically important for Toyota if they are to revive their brand and their business. It will not be an easy task, especially considering that new recalls are being announced (another 1.6 million autos will need to have leaky oil hoses fixed) and the potential for deepening recalls is possible (The NY Times recently completed an investigation suggesting that Camry’s prior to 2007 might also be at risk of a recall). All of this is transpiring while worldwide auto sales is increasing and Toyota is suffering from a lapse in quality, transparency and safety.
Toyota’s silent problem (icebox variety) is now known. How the Toyota silent problem became visible is somewhat typical. The cost to the Toyota brand, cost of repairs, lost revenue from weak sales and fresh incentives to stimulate sales will likely top $50 Billion. And this is the real challenge that Toyota is facing. Its cash position is hemoraging quickly, which will make it more difficult to revive the brand and its quality position.
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