TOYOTA: THE ACCELERATOR CRISIS
Toyota Motor Corporation, Japanese automotive manufacturer, now headquartered in Toyota city, Japan was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 to create automobiles. It is the 13th largest company in the world by revenue as of February 2016. Toyota gained the top spot, ahead of General Motors, in terms of new car sales in 2008, selling cars in 170 nations. GM had previously acquired this top spot as historic global sales leader for 80 years. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy in the early 1950 when it received an order of 5000 vehicles from the United States for its war efforts. This is when Toyota Motor Corporation recognized the high growth market opportunity in the US.
Toyota Motor Corporation started operations…show more content… Toyota has always been known for its endeavours to develop quality during the manufacturing stages rather than rejecting defective parts during final inspection. Cost cutting should not be the priority for the company. Instead, more focus must be given to the quality of the production. The quality and safety of the vehicles by Toyota have always stood out and appealed to the customers. Akiyo Toyoda should strive to maintain that perception in customers’ mind. This can only be done by instilling the “Toyota Way” in each and every employee in its US…show more content… 1. Growth does not mean compromising with quality.
As in the case of Toyota which, in desire to surpass General Motors in number of sales, compromised with the quality of their products, should be looked as an example for what neglecting quality could do to your business. Not only did Toyota suffer from huge economic losses in terms of payments as penalty and other coverage charges, falling share prices, but also they grieved customer dissatisfaction and unfavourable brand perception which affected their sales and reputation. Other companies must make sure that they do no compromise with their quality in their quest for higher growths.
2. Swift and efficient actions should be taken to manage crisis.
The companies should make sure that they recognise the problems as fast as possible. The next step should be to get to the core of these problems and rectify it in the least possible time. The more the time they spend in neglecting the problems, the more it is going to hurt the reputation of the company. In case of severe problems, it may also lead to mishaps which may even cause a loss of lives and capital. Necessary actions should also be taken to make sure that such an issue does not arise in