Safety’s Rising Star…Toyota’s reputation on the line…
I posted a comment on Twitter last night that, as I was staring at my wife’s 2010 Toyota Prius sitting unmoving in the garage, I was coming to the realization that safety would soon overtake quality in automotive marketing.
When you think about it, Toyota’s hallmark has been quality. Toyota is almost a synonym for the concept. I’ve had quite a few Toyota vehicles over the years and they’ve been great cars that have provided great ride quality and few trips to the shop for unplanned maintenance.
With the recent safety issues and recalls for the gas pedal defect and now suggestions of braking/acceleration problems with the Prius, Toyota is under seige. It’s amazing how quickly a good reputation can be placed in doubt.
Here are a few references related to the Toyota recalls and the Prius issue:
http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/static/business/article1455496.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10445564-64.html
Safety like quality is an important need for consumers. Over the last few years safety has been leveraged by automotive marketers but not to the same degree as quality. I think it’s because we take safety for granted. We all know in our heart of hearts that driving is one of the most risky things we do everyday. In some cases it’s more dangerous than the hazards we’re exposed to in our work, unless of course you drive for a living. It will be interesting to see if there’s an uptake on the OHS side from the public product safety focus we’re experiencing today.
As to Toyota’s workplace health and safety record I’ve only seen and heard good things. I understand that they have systems and resources in place to manage the workplace health and safety function. They’ve also reportedly been a good corporate citizen.
Only time will tell how Toyota bounces back from this crisis of public concern. I’m waiting for the next car advertisement where Safety is the prime focus.
…Andrew…a Canadian Safety Guy
Based in Edmonton, Alberta Andrew is a Canadian Occupational Health and Safety Professional with over 20 years of experience working with internal and external clients.
It's funny that you should bring this up, because Ford, are also being touted as the safest vehicles on the road. http://www.ford.com/innovation/car-safety. They had their own problems a few years ago with the pinto, and the explorer. Both fire related, and they worked hard to put it behind them. I'm sure that they and others are getting some mileage from the Toyota mishap. Toyota is bound to come out of this making some jumps in improvements that more than fix the issue. I think that besides the fact that they did nothing sooner the have handled the situation as well as possible.
I'm not sure if safety has been that far behind quality if at all though for some manufacturers. For years, Acura, and Mercedes have marketed their vehicles using crash test tunnels, and 5 star safety awards. I think you're absolutely right though, this is going to be a paradigm shift for the whole industry.
Steven C Davidson – Pursuit Placement Group