Toyota 2009-2010 Recall Case Study Crisis Communication

        According to Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s President, the company’s traditional priorities are safety first, quality second, and volume third.  However, According to Quelch et al (2010) and Steinmetz (2010), Toyota’s rapid growth put strains on design, engineering, and manufacturing which lead to quality issues and recalls which began in 2003.  This shift in Toyota’s priorities away from quality and onto quantity reveals a problem with their business policies and communications team. This change in priorities is what resulted in the life threatening automotive issues and lead to the millions of recalls.  “We [Toyota] pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organization,” which “resulted in the safety issues (United States Cong. 2010).”

Avalon: 2005-2010 Corolla: 2009-2010 Camry: 2007-2010 Highlander: 2010

Sequoia: 2008-2010 Matrix: 2009-2010 RAV4: 2009-2010 Tundra: 2007-2010

Tacoma: 2005-2010 VENZA: 2009-2010 (Call, 2010)

After Toyota had recalled a total of 8.5 million vehicles American Toyota owners had become very distrustful towards the company that was previously known as one of the safest car brands.  This bad brand image didn’t happen because of the company’s actions, but because of its inactions during the crisis.  Their public relations response time to the recall crisis was slow, which made it seem like the company had something to hide or that they didn’t have a solution.  Toyota CEO, Toyoda, didn’t make an official statement until February 5^t, 2010, six months after the first accident was recorded (“A Timeline of,” 2010).

Toyoda statement,

“Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick. I would like to point out here that Toyota’s priority has traditionally been the following First; Safety, Second; Quality, and Third; Volume. These priorities became confused, and we were not able to stop, think, and make improvements as much as we were able to before (Testimony to House).”

Cross- Culture Complications

Although it seemed like Toyota wasn’t being transparent with the public they had been taking serious action behind closed doors.  The misconception was because Toyota practiced a Japanese style of public relations, which is very different than what American public relations have been taught. These cultural differences made it very difficult to correctly inform their target publics in Japan and America, which caused confusion and serious backlash the public.

        When a company is responsible for a crisis in American business the public expects quick answers, explanations and apologies for the problems they caused. In Japan however, the president or CEO of a company will bow as a form as apology and regret for the problem.  In the CBS article, “Toyota’s President Getting a Harsh PR Lesson”, Toyoda is scrutinized for his dishonesty and poor management skills because he follow Japanese business culture of making a decision through quiet conversations between employees and company leaders (Reid, 1999).

Communication Methods

Toyota dealerships all over the country were receiving calls about what to do with vehicles that have been recalled. The recalled vehicles sales were being suspended and owners of these vehicles could take their car to a Toyota dealership to have the problem fixed. These of the recalled vehicles and promised to fix any of the vehicles if they were brought into a dealership. Scott Ehrlich of Ehrlich Motors, a Toyota dealership in Greeley, Colorado said the company is working on getting parts to fix the problems with the recalled cars that were on the road.

"There's a peace of mind knowing if you come in and perform the (fix) on the car, the chances of (the gas pedal sticking) are less to none. Chances of it happening now are extremely slim to none. We've not had a single incident in Greeley, Colorado. Our dealership is not aware of any (Dunn, 2010)."

These free inspections are for any Toyota vehicle, recalled or not, to give Toyota owners some comfort knowing that their car would not have any unintended acceleration or sticky gas pedals. Ehrlich thinks that Toyota is doing everything in their power to give customers the best service through this crisis. "This is a voluntary recall. Toyota was determined to do this. And they're going way above and beyond (Dunn, 2010)."