The recall of Toyota vehicles in 2009 and 2010 attracted the attention of governmental agencies and journalists who criticized the company for its failure to ensure the safety of their cars (Bunkley, 2010, p. 4).
Many consumers are now aware of the car accidents that were primarily caused by the deficiencies of Toyota Camry and Toyota Corolla (Bunkley, 2010, p. 4). The negative publicity is probably the main reason why the financial performance of this organization declined significantly and its market share decrease relative to the major competitors. Currently, this corporation attempts to regain the trust of customers.
This paper is aimed at discussing current strategies that Toyota implements in order to overcome public relations difficulties. On the whole, the problems encountered by this company demonstrate that modern businesses should always remember about their corporate social responsibility; their profitability and reputation. Nevertheless, Toyota will manage to cope with this problem, if they adhere to their policy of quality improvement.
First of all, the annual report of Toyota emphasizes the importance of safety for this corporation. In particular, it is argued that the ultimate goal of this corporation is the zero casualties of their vehicles (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2011, p. 14).
In particular, this company will carry out investigations of various accidents in which their vehicles were involved (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2011, p. 14). Furthermore, they intend to carry out numerous simulations in order to detect possible limitations of their cars (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2011, p. 15).
The results of these tests can help this corporations create safer vehicles. This is the core strategy that they want to adopt. In this way they intend to eliminate the slightest deficiencies of their cars. Additionally, this company intends to introduce cars that pose a lesser threat to pedestrians and decrease the risk of injuries. Again, they want to achieve this objective through a series of tests and simulations.
Provided that the strategies advocated by Toyota succeed, this organization can indeed restore its reputation and gain the trust of their clients. This policy is consistent with the culture of Toyota because this corporation continuously stresses quality improvement of their products. However, it may take this company many years in order to achieve the goals. The problem is that the recall of vehicles has been wide discussed in various media, and these reports produced a long-lasting impression on many customers.
This problem is particularly important nowadays when the news about a specific event is spread via social networks very quickly. This is why Toyota will have to spend much time in order to change the opinions of clients and public organizations. Under these circumstances, even well-developed policies cannot bring immediate success.
Furthermore, this corporation implements other strategies in order to reestablish its positions in the market. First of all, this company has changed its sales program in order to attract new buyers. In particular, they offer such an option as no-interest financing to their customers (Bunkley, 2010, p. 4). Moreover, the buyers of Toyota vehicles in the United States are allowed to repay their loans within five years (Bunkley, 2010, p. 4). Additionally, the company enables clients to take three years of free maintenance (Bunkley, 2010, p. 4).
These policies are supposed to make the products of Toyota more appealing. Currently, these strategies do not yield the expected results and Toyota’s market share has decreased, especially in comparison with their major rival Ford Motor Company. There are several reasons why the activities of Toyota have not been quite successful. First of all, at this point, many customers are still too concerned about the safety deficiencies of Toyota vehicles.
It should be admitted that these concerns may be significantly exaggerated, but they strongly affect their purchasing decisions. This is one of the main arguments that can be made. Similar difficulties were once experienced by Ford when this company was strongly criticized for the release of Ford Pinto (Weiss, 2008). The impact of that scandal also produced a profound effect on the financial performance of Ford. This problem can be even more challenging at the time, when news is spread at a much faster rate.
This aspect should be considered by the senior management. Still, one can argue that Toyota can further implement this policy because they should offer certain incentives to their clients. However, they should not expect that they can quickly regain the loyalty of clients. This is the main issue that they need to take into account when developing new strategies or business initiatives.
Certainly, one has to admit that the recall of Toyota’s vehicles has adversely impacted the financial performance of this corporation. Moreover, their reputation was significantly compromised. Nevertheless, the effects of these events can be overcome if they can successfully implement their quality assurance programs. In the long term, this organization can regain their positions in the market. The policies that they currently pursue are consistent with the culture of this company and its production process.
Reference List
Bunkley, N. (2010, March 2). After Recalls, Toyota Offers Incentives to Win Back.
Wary Customers. The New York Times, p. 4. Toyota Motor Company. (2011). Annual Report 2011. Retrieved from https://global.toyota/en/ir/library/annual/archives/
Weiss, J. (2008). Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach. New York: Cengage Learning.