Toyota's woes

Toyota's crisis isn't a "quality" issue in its classic sense. Historically, quality issues have been issues of manufacturing. Toyota's quality problems are deeper and much more troubling. Their quality problem is based upon the design of their automobiles.

Toyota's faulty gas pedals are not manufacturing problems. Their factories didn't produce "defects." Their factories made the cars as designed, in much the way the original Hubble was manufactured: perfectly, but to flawed specifications.

Toyota's problems are rooted in the engineering and management decisions that produced cars prone to gas pedal problems and lacking the override mechanism used by rivals.

The problems were made worse by management control systems that didn't respond quickly or aggressively enough to problems as they became apparent.

Toyota's quality problems are deep seated and high up in the organization. Barring a total and disruptive shakeup, they will be very tough to eliminate.

For a Locust like Toyota, the quality issue and its resolution is a strategic matter that strikes right at the heart of its value proposition.

I'm one of those people who think driving is fun, especially when things like speed limits don't get in the way. I'm not alone - lots of people see cars and driving as I do.

We're not Toyota's customers. Indeed, Toyotas are distinctly unfun to drive.

Toyota targets people like my wife, a person who sees driving as a means to far more pleasurable ends.

Toyota's value proposition to drivers like my wife has been: our vehicles are practical, solid, dependable, quiet, comfortable ... never something to worry about. If you're not sure what to buy, you can't go wrong with a Toyota.

That value proposition rings hollow right now, doesn't it?

I'm sure they'll fix the gas pedal problems. And maybe the steering problems with Corollas that I've read about won't amount to much, either.

But the company will be in the news for a long time: lawsuits will see to that. Even those who don't follow the company very closely will hear the drumbeat of negative news.

Customers will, for at least a generation, hear a small warning bell in the backs of their mind when they step into the dealership. "We're not quite a practical and solid and dependable as you thought we were. We're like all the others. Buying from us is not a means of avoiding problems and surprises."

A tragic situation for a great company.

Comments

[jason]

CEO of Toyota heads to Congress today. I totally agree, it is a tragic situation for a great company.