Problems at Toyota, JAL & Sony, taint Japan Inc.'s image

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100131/D9DISUQG0.html

Jan 31, 1:43 PM (ET)

By MALCOLM FOSTER

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota is the latest Japanese corporate icon making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

News of the automaker's massive vehicle recalls over faulty gas pedals in the U.S. came just days after Japan Airlines, a once proud flag carrier, filed for bankruptcy, saddled with billions in debt.

Sony has lost its lead in consumer gadgets to the likes of Apple Inc. and has suffered its own quality mishaps. Honda, Japan's No. 2 automaker, is recalling 646,000 cars worldwide because of a faulty window switch.

Taken together, Japan Inc.'s stellar reputation for quality has taken a hit - just as China is about to overtake it as the world's No. 2 economy and rising South Korean companies compete ever more aggressively.

What went wrong with the economic giant that arose from the ashes of World War II?

The problems that confront Toyota, Sony and JAL differ, but experts say their struggles have some common themes: the perils of global expansion, a tendency to embrace the status quo, and smugness bred from success or a too-big-to-fail mentality.

FULL story at link.

[DJ13]

1. What went wrong?

After expending tremendous amounts of energies and capital to build themselves into global giants they succumbed to the typical short term profits (exec bonuses depend on it) instead of a long term business plan that almost every other publicly traded company is guilty of in the last 20 years.

[frazzled]

2. Well, let's be fair about Japan: the part in question was made by an American company

I'm not going to lay blame on one or the other: it was apparently Toyota's design. But it was CTS, in Elkhart, Indiana, that manufactured the gas pedals. Perhaps it's just that we have no more faith to lose in American manufacturing?

(That is why, I believe, our Prius is not on the list for the gas-pedal recall: it was manufactured in Japan.)

[madrchsod]

3. the part was made in canada to toyota specs,

both the canadian manufacture and toyota`s qc dept missed the problem. according to some reports toyota knew about the problem for several years and did nothing. there`s going to be people fired and people demoted within toyota. several years ago toyota got nailed for bad suspension parts. people were fired but it looks like the corporate climate has`t changed.

poor quality and cover-ups... was`t that the biggest complaint against the us car assembliers...



i own a 94 camry with 140,000 miles and when i start it the pistons sound like they are going through the block.

[frazzled]

4. Sorry, the pedals in the US cars were made by CTS in Elkhart.

Toyota said that not all of the models listed in the recall have the faulty gas pedals, which were made by CTS Corp. of Elkhart, Ind.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_bi_ge/toyota_recall

CTS corporation, headquartered out of Elkhart, made all of the accelerator pedals that are in the recalled cars. Toyota decided to recall 2.3 million vehicles that contained the CTS pedals.
http://www.wndu.com/hometop/headlines/82837977.html


Lastly, let me comment on your 1994 Camry, because we owned that same car for 12 years and approximately the same 140,000 miles as yours, before purchasing a Prius in 2006. We had no such piston problem. But c'mon: you have a 16 year old car with 140K miles on it ... you think a car runs trouble free forever? It's old, and it's amazing that it's given you such great service for so long. Second, this has nothing to do with the accelerator problem in question. It also has nothing to do with the quality of Toyota cars: I defy you to find many American cars that would be on the road and driving after such extended service. Get it fixed. It was clearly paid off years ago, and you have to invest in maintaining a car from time to time.

[madrchsod]

10. made in canada...failed qc in canada and toyota`s assembly plants

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5idZgY05TBEwKzprpgXv4PMHxIyWg

[frazzled]

11. Um, your article says only that they were made by CTS, based in Elkhart

Ford spokesman Said Deep said Thursday the diesel version of its Transit Classic built by a Chinese joint venture contains accelerators built by CTS Corp. (NYSE:CTS), based in Elkhart, Ind.

The only "Canada" I can find in this article is that it is from the Canadian press.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Anne Clark said their Prius was "careening out of control" at 108 mph and that the gas pedal ...

http://www.statesman.com/business/for-toyota-drivers-confusion-and-anger-in-wake-202907.html

For Toyota drivers, confusion and anger in wake of recall

Company says gas pedal fix is coming

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Published: 9:35 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29, 2010

<snip>Although Toyota's hybrid Prius is not part of the current recall, it was among the vehicles listed last fall, when Toyota told customers that driver's side floor mats could potentially cause the accelerator to stick.

Lockhart residents Bill and Anne Clark experienced that problem firsthand last month while following an ambulance in their 2009 Prius at high speed to the scene of an accident at their nearby ranch.

Anne Clark said their Prius was "careening out of control" at 108 mph and that the gas pedal would not become unstuck, even when Bill Clark pulled at it as hard as he could with his foot and stomped on it. He was eventually able to shift into neutral and stop the car.

Anne Clark said a representative at a local Toyota dealership told her that they were "unable to do anything until we get a recall letter from Toyota" and instructed her to remove the floor mat.

The Clarks are convinced the mat isn't the problem because they had a custom mat and once the car cooled down, the pedal became unstuck.

[frazzled]

8. And we should believe someone we don't know named Ann Clark ...

who was in a high-speed chase to begin with?

I'm not saying it didn't happen ... but millions and millions of drivers have not had this happen to them. So someone was "following an ambulance at high speed to the scene of an accident". This is not normal driving conditions, and we don't know what the final analysis was ... or whether such a phenomenon would happen in other cars under the same conditions. We don't know if Bill Clark weighs 250 pounds. We really don't know anything from this article.

It's something that needs to be fixed--but I, for one, have no fear of driving my Prius under normal circumstances. And no, it is only subject to the "floor mat" recall, not the "gas pedal" recall.

[NNN0LHI]

9. I will take Ann Clarks word over an anonymous internet poster

Hows that?

Don

[ThomWV]

6. They haven't lost my trust one single bit.

Consumer wise nothing is made in this country any more and I'll take Japanese products over Chinese goods anytime.

[spoony]

7. "nothing is made in this country any more"

Nonsense. People say that to excuse themselves from responsibility as consumers. The only area I can see where such a broad statement applies is electronics. Otherwise I'm almost always able to find US made products.