Editorial
'Customer First': Time for Toyota to put its money where its mouth is
All eyes were on the head of the world's top auto maker, Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, as he appeared at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday.
At times during the hearing, various parties were seen talking past each other, as the exchange was conducted through a translator, but the fact that the company president himself attended the hearing was of no small significance.
However, this does not mean that concerns over the safety of Toyota vehicles have been eliminated. This is merely a starting point from which Toyota must go on to offer swift, careful explanations and improvements in order to dispel consumers' doubts.
The first issue that the House wanted to address in the hearing was why Toyota did not respond more quickly to the problem of sudden acceleration, and why large-scale recalls in the U.S. were delayed despite the fact that in 2008, the company had received reports of sticky gas pedals in Europe and had taken measures to remedy the problem there.
Both Toyoda and Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer for Toyota Motor North America who also attended the hearing, apologized for the recent events citing such underlying causes as flaws in the company's internal structure. Their responses, however, to questions concerning the time period in which Toyoda learned of consumers' complaints and the exchanges that took place between U.S. authorities and Toyota remained vague, doing nothing to erase suspicions that the company was involved in a cover-up.
The second point that the hearing addressed was whether the recalls currently taking place will actually eliminate the safety risks at issue. The belief that electronic flaws in Toyota vehicles were the real cause of the problem is still prevalent in the U.S., and while Toyoda and others strongly denied that there were any defects in their electronic system, they did not provide any convincing evidence to support their case. As long as this doubt remains, it will be difficult to regain consumer confidence.
The hearing also highlighted Japanese and American cultural differences. During his testimony, President Toyoda pointed to the fact that he is "the grandson of the founder" of Toyota Motor Corp," and that "when the cars (bearing my name) are damaged, it is as though I am as well." He stated candidly that he accepted full responsibility as the company chief, and apologized numerous times. Some in both the House and the U.S. media responded favorably to Toyoda's humble demeanor.
At the same time, however, that Toyoda repeatedly apologized without providing adequate objective information on the causes and events leading up to the recall aggravated other observers. Offering apologies and promising that efforts will be taken so that such problems and tragedies never happen again without clearly identifying the causes cannot provide consumers with the reassurance they seek.
Some within Japan view the criticism of the Japanese auto maker in the U.S. as an expression of anti-Japanese sentiment, while there are complaints in the U.S. that the safety of American consumers has been put on the back burner. We must not let the latest Toyota issue develop into mutual mistrust between Japan and the U.S.
And to that end, Toyota must show through their actions that there are no national boundaries to its philosophy of "Customer First."
(Mainichi Japan) February 26, 2010