Now there’s some sad things known to man, but ain’t too much sadder than the tears of a… CEO? Apparently, at least one Toyota shareholder has seen enough tears and weeping from the company’s not-so-fearless leader.

According to a report from Reuters, one of Toyota’s shareholders requested, “Mr. Toyoda, you’ve been all over the media this year and you’ve gone teary-eyed on several occasions. For a man of your position, this is unacceptable. Please keep your chin up and try not to weep!”

Certainly, there are reasons for both Toyoda and Toyota’s shareholders to smile – despite the recent spate of recalls (more than 10 million vehicles) and safety woes, the Japanese automaker still expects to turn an operating profit of 280 billion yen for the year ending in March 2011. After all that, though, Toyoda found it within himself to issue yet another apology, apparently in this case, sans tears.

[Source: Reuters | Image: Junko Kimura/Getty]

Akio Toyoda apologizes to shareholders, shareholder tells him to stop crying originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a press conference on Wednesday in Tokyo, Toyota Motor Company’s president Akio Toyoda (grandson of the company’s founder) revealed new details of his plan to reform the automaker’s quality standards. Toyota has been beset by a trio of high-profile recalls, two of which involve unintended acceleration caused by either floormats or a sticking accelerator pedal and another having to do with the brakes on the 2010 Prius hybrid.

In addition to heading up what’s being called a Special Committee for Global Quality, Toyoda remarked that his company will also establish a “chief quality officer” for each geographical region in which the company’s vehicles are sold. Those officers will each have a seat on the committee led by Toyoda, which holds its first meeting March 30. New local technical offices will also be opened to help better investigate customer complaints, the goal reportedly being to have an on-site inspector there within 24 hours after a complaint is made.

In addition, Toyoda reaffirmed the automaker’s commitment to outfit all of its vehicles with a brake-override system. This system would prevent acceleration if the gas and brake pedals were applied at the same time. Finally, the Japanese automaker also plans to make better use of onboard data event recorders in its vehicles. Like the black box in an airplane, these devices record critical data the seconds before an accident happens.

His third time speaking to the press in less than two months, Toyoda also confirmed that he would not be attending a February 24 Congressional hearing before the House Oversight Committee. Instead, Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota’s operations in North America, will appear on behalf of Toyota to answer the U.S. government’s questions. This will be the second of four Congressional hearings related to Toyota’s recent recalls, and while Toyoda does not plan to attend any himself, he is planning a trip to the U.S. to speak directly with workers, dealers and suppliers.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req. | Image: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty]

Akio Toyoda outlines quality reform, won’t attend U.S. hearings originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, what a terrible feeling it must have been when Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, had to sit down and write out this here mea culpa, mia maxima culpa for today’s Washington Post. As the bad news continues to fall upon Toyota’s bruised crown, we imagine that Mr. Toyoda realized that his company had reached the point where continued sound bite apologies (here’s another one) isn’t doing Toyota all that much good. As such, he put pen to paper and defends the Japanese giant in long format.

Maybe we could use a more charitable word than “defends.” For Toyoda does take responsibility (in writing, at any rate) for Toyota’s unintended failings and accelerating recalls. Says Mr. Toyoda, “We have not lived up to the high standards you have come to expect from us. I am deeply disappointed by that and apologize. As the president of Toyota, I take personal responsibility.” Not a bad place to start from, we think.

Toyoda then goes on to explain about the Toyota’s fabled andon cord. An andon cord is an alarm that any line worker at any Toyota plant can pull when there’s trouble on the production line. Meaning that Toyota takes its vehicles’s quality so seriously, that even the dude screwing in the ashtray (or whatever) can shut down production for the entire for an entire plant. Quote Mr. Toyoda, “Two weeks ago, I pulled the andon cord for our company.” That’s in reference to his decision to cease production of eight Toyota models.

He then goes on and explains what Toyota is doing to prevent things like ThrottleGate from happening in the future, starting with a “top-to-bottom review” of Toyota’s global operations. Toyota will also be establishing the Automotive Center of Quality Excellence, essentially an engineering and quality clearinghouse. Toyota will also be putting together a “blue-ribbon safety advisory group” comprised of non-Toyota quality management experts to periodically review Toyota’s business practices. The group’s findings – and Toyota’s response to those findings – will be made public. Lastly, Mr. Toyoda acknowledges that Toyota needs to investigate complaints from consumers more quickly. To that last bit we say, “Gee, ya think?”

[Source: Washington Post | Image: Junko Kimura/Getty Images]

Toyota President Akio Toyoda pens op-ed piece for Washington Post originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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