Toyota announced a recall of 4 million vehicles today for sticky gas pedals and excessive frame rust. The good news for Toyota is that unlike GM or Chrysler, they have a ton of capital in their brand equity bank. So while this is a huge recall with some very serious safety implications it will have little effect on their overall brand image.
A strong brand can give you cover for a multitude of sins and Toyota certainly has done a lot of things right to earn it's reputation as a leader in quality and efficiency. It's interesting though, that in the 2009 JD Power study, Toyota was not in the top 5 of brands in initial quality behind both Cadillac and Hyundai. And while it boasts the Prius as a leader in fuel-efficiency, the Toyota Sequoia and Camry are no more efficient than a Chevy Tahoe and Malibu.
Toyota's strong brand will help them weather this storm. The question is, how many more hits can their brand take before they are seen as just another car company?
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Harvey, completely concur with your thoughts. Toyota has done well building their brand over the years and will survive this hit but, as the owner of 2 Toyotas, their quality is not that much better than other brands, including GM and Ford, at the present time.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog. Keep it coming!
Regarding your "shameless self promotion" email today, I had already addded your daily screed to my RSS reader, even before I got the pitch to do so. So, what do you call an early adopted who's so far ahead of the curve that he's already purchased the product before the pitch is even made?
ReplyDeleteBruce
Meant "early adopter." Damn fingers!
ReplyDeleteIt only took GM 20 years to piss away the brand equity they had, althought they were really trying hard (V8 Diesel, V8-6-4, etc.). Toyota won't feel the effects of these quality laspes for years to come, but they will feel it unless they put a stop to this quickly. The problem is that even if they turn things around, there are probably a few more skeletons lurking in the closet.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bruce. I Hope my musings justify your early adoption.
ReplyDelete2000 Toyota.....134k miles....only oil changes and tires and brakes...nothing goes wrong with it, nothing ever will...still runs like a top. Toyota has been dinged, but there are plenty of belivers out there who simply can't kill their old Toyotas. And no, I am not talking about an old Toyota Hi Lux truck...I am talking Corollas, Camrys, and Echos.
ReplyDeleteColin, there is no problem with getting that type of longevity out of a modern autombile. I have a 2001 Chrysler Concorde with 280,000 miles applying the same maintenace routine. It still gets 28 mpg too.
ReplyDeleteWere this a single quality hit, it might not be a big issue. But Toyota has had a steady stream lately. We just heard about the recall of 110,000 Tundra pickups because the frames on the vehicles are rusting so badly that the spare tire carrier can fail, dropping the tire on the road. There was a similar recall for Tacoma pickup frame rust issues. Also issues with tailgates buckling on the new Tundras, engine sludge, etc. Seems like Toyota IS just another car company already!
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