I drive a Toyota Rav4, one of the vehicle models subject to a recall to fix a possible problem with the accelerator. Am I concerned? No. I know if the accelerator should stick I need to shift the car into neutral and brake to slow my speed. That there have been no reported injuries as a result of the accelerator problem suggests the problem is very rare and most drivers know how to deal with the situation in the very unlikely chance it should happen to them.
Toyota has gone to extraordinary lengths to reassure the public, including suspending production so it can manufacture and install millions of replacement parts. In the meantime, drivers should exercise normal caution.
Toyotas's response hasn't stopped a lot of publicity seeking consultants and academics and headline seeking media from declaring this a disaster for Toyota's reputation and the beginning of its downfall as an auto maker. Some of them will say anything to get in the papers or on television and, unfortunately, there always seems to be an ad salesman newspaper publisher ready to pounce with the most exaggerated, alarming headline. For example, there is this completely unfounded comment by a York University professor,
" 'But, unfortunately for Toyota, there have been little bits and pieces of problems emerging over the last year,' said Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University's Schulich School of Business. `They're no longer Number 1 in quality'."
link: Toyota owners fume over massive recall - thestar.com
Unless he has done the research and can tell us who is number 1, then his remark is irresponsible. Sure it gets him quoted in The Star, which never has a issues with giving sensational speculation priority over facts, but it doesn't contribute to his reputation as a scholar. Who is the new #1? I doubt any manufacturer has displaced Toyota, not could it. A position that has taken decades to achieve isn't lost in a fortnight.
When Ford Pintos were exploding and passengers were perishing in the conflagration, was it the end of Ford? It wasn't then, and this won't be now, unless Toyota resorts to denial and coverup and fails to fix the problem with a tiny proportion of its production. But Ford wasn't at the top of the market then and isn't now and it didn't get the attention or the kind of doomsday criticism being heaped on Toyota.
The pot-shots being taken at Toyota are, I guess, the price of being number 1 in sales and customer satisfaction. It's sad that some people delight in taking shots at the those whose success is universally acclaimed. Perhaps it compensates for their own inadequacies and failures. I wonder how Prof Middleton is rated by his colleagues and students.
