Toyota's Damaged Reputation & Someone is Making Kimchi Out of the Competition

Toyota is in a tailspin on the heels of a historic recall notice and being #1 is a very lonely place. Toyota's reputation is based on quality and safety. There is no love or inspiration felt from envisioning myself behind the wheel of a Camry. Now a Lexus LF-A, well of course! I just have to remind myself that this boutique vehicle costs an estimated $400K. A little out of reach for the average, safety conscious consumer. And hey, no room for a child safety seat!



It is easy to criticize Toyota's efforts as the company met it's goal to be the #1 automaker. Their reputation propelled them there, allowed customer retention, and afforded those Toyota owners a glimpse at the gateway drug known as Lexus. Is all lost? Of course not! Toyota has done much to ingratiate itself to the American public by offering "quality" vehicles and employing Americans. And this recall is set to be costly, estimating a parting of ways with hundreds of million of dollars. So will consumers turn their backs on this beloved brand? Probably not, but it is difficult to tell, as consumers are turning their backs on automotive sales in general.



What can be said is that this is perfect timing for Korean brands like Hyundai and Kia. Hyundai is in a position to dominate the market with quality vehicles that have the features and style the public wants. Think Hyundai Genesis and think impressive financing terms in a tough economy. The North America Car of the Year has helped garner that street cred, and even I can see myself behind the wheel of one.

So is all lost? Of course not, I mean Toyota isn't GM. Consistently, GM leaves me uninspired and I grow weary of the "May the Best Car Win" marketing. I am not buying it and auto sales are showing similar results. I still think the "best car" may just have a little more Seoul than any other automaker ever saw coming.

Floormats on the Fritz? GM & Toyota say, "Oh no you didn't!"

Almost a week after Toyota reassessed its recall notice of almost 4M vehicles, it was found that maybe there was a little more to their floormat theory. But wait...let's step back a bit...enter dream sequence and the faint musical stylings of Duran Duran drift in. I am sitting behind the wheel of an Audi 5000S. Great vehicle with German prowess, Quattro all-wheel drive, and a bad case of unintended acceleration! Pulling into a garage, the 5000S takes off like a shot, damaging the parking structure and injuring the driver. Valets have declined to park the 5000S for fear of injuring themselves and others citing unintended acceleration. In the smoothest of PR moves, Audi cited operator error and those mysterious floormats. And what was the result? It took a little over 15 years for Audi to recover from bad press, the possibility of flawed design, and the suffering of those injured by a perceived automotive mishap.


Much has been done to safeguard against this possible occurrence. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche utilize throttle-by-wire or drive-by-wire. Instead of having a mechanical throttle body with the necessary cabling, the throttle is electronically controlled by the accelerator pedal. After Audi's debacle, the German automakers implemented a smart pedal. Whether or not the accelerator is intentionally or unintentionally depressed, by stepping on the brake, the accelerator disengages. In this respect, it is similar to disengaging the cruise control when the brake pedal is depressed. The development of the smart pedal is crucial to the safety of an accelerator malfunction.


Now enter Toyota. Touted with safety features and economy of design, Toyota employs the drive-by-wire system, but there is a catch. Deemed too costly, Toyota decided to turn a blind eye to the hard-learned lesson of Audi and took a pass on installing a smart pedal. The result, unintended acceleration. Now with recalls underway and dealers not fully prepared to implement the multi-visit repair, the Toyota driving consumer is afraid to take their beloved out on the road. Kudos to Toyota for being forced to make the recall...



And speaking of forced, where is Fritz? Herr Henderson is no more. Relinquishing the reins at GM, Ed Whitacre once again steps in to save the "we will pay back those billions in bailout money" day. Fritz, a career GM man, was deemed ineffective, having asked that management refrain from calling him an interim CEO, as that nomenclature would undermine his authority. The authority to lose money and play the corporate fall guy? No worries Fritz, mud is your name. And keeping in the GM tradition, former Buick guy (though recently seen in a crumpled Cadillac Escalade), Tiger Woods, has made apologies for his indiscretion, questionable driving skills, questionable romantic associations, Caller ID, and mostly, apologies for the Buick Skylark.