FINaL Word
he Japanese automotive industry reputa-
T
tion has gone from squeaky clean to
dubious is the span of two months.
Cringing, the world has watched as
its biggest automaker, Toyota, recalls
over 8.5 million cars. Problems range from sticky ac-
celerator pedals in the steady Corolla, floor mats that
block brake pedals in the trusty Tacoma and issues with
Honda Fit
anti-lock brakes in the new Prius. The widespread problem
has been enhanced by Toyota’s practice of cutting costs by in-
creasingly using common parts in different models. This may be a
good model for fast expansion, but when one part goes wrong in
Cars and their Defects
one model, other models are sure to follow.
While automotive recalls are a relatively common occurrence,
Pedal entrapment+Sticking accelerator (Toyota)
the reason these announcements are particularly panic-inducing
2005-2010 Avalon 2009-2010 Corolla
to the public is due to the problems being roughly connected to at
2009-2010 Matrix
least 30 deaths. Not only this, but the company has been accused
Pedal entrapment (Toyota)
of “dragging its feet” in the face of complaints. Toyota Motor’s
2004-2009 Prius 2008-2010 Highlander
president, Akio Toyoda, is now facing the U.S. House Commit-
2005-2010 Tacoma 2009-2010 VENZA
tee on Oversight and Government Reform in an investigation of
Sticking accelerator (Toyota)
negligence.
2007-2010 Camry 2009-2010 RAV4
Recalls have also spread to other companies that share facto-
2008-2010 Sequoia 2007-2010 Tundra
ries and therefore, parts with Toyota. The French car maker PSA
Driver’s airbag (Honda)
Peugeot Citroen said it will recall 97,000 small vehicles including
2001 & 2002 Accord 2001 & 2002 Civic
Peugeot 107s and Citroen C1s, which were made at a Czech joint
2001 & 2002 Odyssey 2001 & 2002 CR-V
venture plant with Toyota. GM has also recalled the Pontiac Vibe,
2002 Acura TL
which is essentially the same car as the Toyota Matrix. While this
Anti lock brake problems (Toyota)
model is no longer being manufactured, the Vibes used to be built
2010 Lexus HS250h 2009 Lexus Sai
at a factory shared with you guessed it, Toyota.
2010 Toyota Prius
Toyota factories around the world, but especially in the United
Window switches (Honda)
States were forced to close operations for days and sometimes
2007 & 2008 Fit
weeks, in order to avoid parts oversupply. Japan’s Toyota head-
quarters are also scrambling to figure out how to fix the broken
models as well as Toyota’s broken image.
In other bad news for Japan, Honda also released recalls for
over one million vehicles this year. While media back-lash has
been relatively light in the shadow of the Toyota mess, Honda
has recalled 646,000 Honda Fits (also known as a City
or Jazz depending on the country) due to window
switches that can overheat if exposed to liq-
uid, causing smoke, melting and fire. The last
378,758 vehicles involved in the recall have is-
sues with the driver’s airbag, which could deploy
with more pressure than needed causing injury
or even death.
Overall, not a good start to the year for Japa-
nese automakers hoping to lure consumers back
into the market.
66 MARCH/APRIL 2010 www.supplychains.com
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