Good to be home, I’m Jay Leno, your host… at least for a while.
I’m a little bit nervous, not because it’s my first day back, but because Dave and Oprah are watching…
We’ve been off for the last few weeks, bit like the Russians at the (Winter) Olympics…
We’ve got Lindsay Vonn on the show tonight, when it comes to going downhill no-one is faster… Except NBC
President Bush said today that he often turned to prayer during his presidency. Hey, I think we all turned to prayer during his presidency.
Keanu Reeves will star in “Speed 3.” The first “Speed” was about a runaway bus, the second was about a boat, and the third one is going to be about a Toyota.
Gatorade has officially ended their relationship with Tiger Woods. He was seeing at least five other sports drinks.
The last two weeks have seen an avalanche of negative headlines for Toyota. A sampling below:
On February 23, 2010, Jim Lentz, Toyota’s President of U.S. Sales, admitted during questioning before the House Energy and Commerce Panel that it was “probably fair to say” that the company may not know the cause of unintended acceleration in as many as 70 percent of customer complaints.
On February 24, 2010, Akio Toyoda–Toyota’s President and the grandson of the company’s founder–told the House Oversight and Government Committee that he didn’t learn about unintended acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles until late 2009, and claimed that he wasn’t aware of a July 2009 internal memo that bragged about $100 million in savings on recalls. The plausibility of his professed ignorance was called into question when Lentz testified before Congress that decisions about important safety issues like recalls were all made in Japan–an admission at odds with Toyota’s efforts to portray itself as a company solidly rooted in the U.S.
On February 26, 2010, Bloomberg News reported that the same memo characterized Toyota’s success in blocking a formal recall of Sienna minivans as a “win” for the company. The problem with the Siennas involved collapsing liftgates that led to 98 reported injuries. Toyota persuaded the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to close its investigation by sending a letter to Sienna owners offering to replace defective struts on the liftgate.
On March 2, 2010, USA Today/Gallup released results of a survey that showed that 31% of Americans now believe Toyota and Lexus vehicles are unsafe to drive, and 55% believe the carmaker dragged its feet in responding to potential safety defects.
Also on March 2, 2010, the New York Times reported that Camrys manufactured before 2007–which were not subject to Toyota’s recent recalls–were the subject of hundreds of unintended acceleration complaints. Toyota did not recall the pre-2007 Camrys because they use a different gas pedal and different floor mats than later models. However, the complaints about pre-2007 Camrys suggests that unintended acceleration may be caused by problems with the electronic throttle system and not defective gas pedals or floor mats.
On March 3, 2010, the Associated Press reported that NHTSA continued to receive complaints of unintended acceleration from Toyota owners whose cars had been repaired. The continued problems suggest that unintended acceleration is caused by problems with the electronic throttle system, something Toyota has repeatedly denied. Toyota has attributed the problems to defective gas pedals and floor mats, and its fixes have focused on swapping out floor mats, replacing and modifying pedals and removing floor padding. NHTSA has asked Toyota owners who continue to experience unintended acceleration post-repairs to contact the agency.
On February 24, 2010, the New York Times reported that Toyota is facing a revolt from its suppliers, who have been frustrated in recent years by Toyota’s efforts to squeeze prices despite rising production costs. The recall crisis has led the traditionally loyal suppliers to break rank and speak out against the company. The owner of one supplier, Teruo Moewaki, became a local celebrity by saying on television he would no longer accept orders from the embattled manufacturer.
While it may be some time before we know the answers to who knew what and when in the case of the sticky Toyota accelerator pedals, the company clearly understands that its brand’s reputation has taken a hit and is doing a lot to communicate that it cares about its customers. National TV and print advertising as well as news conferences and press availabilities with spokespersons have all been employed. The chairman of Toyota has testified before the U.S Congress in response to subpoenas.
In an unprecedented recall situation that now includes more than 8 million vehicles including the latest generation of Prius hybrids for faulty brakes, how does a brand survive when there are so many American-made quality autos to chose from. Yes, that’s right America has quality autos. That comes from someone who swore he would never own an American car again after one of the worst car experiences of my life – a 1988 Chevy Corsica. The antidote was a 1992 Honda Accord, which turned me into a believer of Japanese quality. Yet, nearly 20 years later, I have owned two American vehicles and have been pleased – one a GMC Canyon pick up and the other a Ford Taurus X crossover. We still have a 2003 Honda Accord but when it comes time to replace it, we have some great American options. U.S. auto buyers are finding out what I found out years ago – we do not have to accept inferior products and we will reward companies who give us what we want and treat us well. Competition is good. It certainly was good for Ford and GM, which are making cars that are competitive on quality, safety and gas mileage. These companies are reaping the benefits from the competition they had after they became complacent and took their preeminence (and consumers) for granted.
Is Toyota on the verge of being in the place GM and Ford were 20 years ago? February’s auto sales figures suggest Toyota has a problem. Ford’s sales were up 43 percent, GM’s up 12.7 percent (the same as Honda), Nissan up 29.4 percent and Hyundai was up 11 percent, while Toyota fell 8.7 percent. And the longer there are questions about whether Toyota found a real fix, the trend will continue.
Although hailed as a quality leader for decades and admired for the Lean production processes that were put into place after WWII, Toyota needs to remember the basic tenets of continuous quality improvement and stay vigilant. It is easy to be come complacent when you think you do not have any competition.
Toyota had the enviable reputation as the quality auto leader of the world. However, the company’s reputation has been slipping in recent years and Consumer Reports, which historically gave Toyota’s cars high marks, stopped giving what seemed like a an automatic seal of approval. It is going to be a long time before Toyota gets through this crisis. The company’s reputation will take years to rebuild. If the company’s leaders make a determined effort, stop taking the consumer for granted, and assume that whatever they make is the best – they can compete again. However, the market landscape will have changed dramatically.
So what are some of the lessons for Toyota and for professional communicators:
1. “Quality is Job #1.” That was Ford Motor Company’s tagline from a few years ago and it became a mantra. Toyota needs to make quality and transparency the core of everything it does and every relationship it has with customers, employees, dealers, regulators – everyone. Ultimately, if our clients and the companies we represent, what to be market leaders, they have to have the goods.
2. Take complaints seriously before there is a problem. In the case of Toyota, if State Farm insurance makes a complaint to the National Highway Safety and Transportation Administration three years before the recall, it is probably an important symptom ofa problem that needs to be checked out – rigorously. So, that means don’t deny and delay. Fix it and move on. How a company responds reflects on its character and demonstrates its priorities.
3. Be clear about your business objectives. Rapid growth often leads to poor quality. Toyota, in its quest to unseat GM as the largest auto manufacturer lost sight of its main differentiating point – it produced the best quality cars in the world. And now it does not.
4. when something goes wrong, say you are sorry. Then back it up with actions. Toyota appears to be doing that but the enormity of the problem will make it difficult for the company to put this situation behind them quickly. First they need to make sure they understand the problem and have a real fix. In the last few days, news reports have come out that there are new complaints that the fix did not work. Hard for consumers to believe in your company when that happens.
We have all heard that it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and seconds to damage it. While no truer words were spoken, Abraham Lincoln had one of the best insights on reputation, “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
We are known for what we do. We, and our clients and companies, need to do the right thing.
Toyota’s problems are hard for some to take, especially in Toyota City, Japan.
When news of the unintended acceleration problems first broke, Toyota management here suggested that the troubles were due to driver error. Taxi driver Toshio Okamura said he believed that explanation.
“It was hard to imagine,” he said of the mechanical problems. “This is Toyota. These things don’t happen.”
Now Toyota has admitted problems with its cars. And a U.S. lawmaker has alleged that the company may have deliberately withheld evidence in lawsuits relating to vehicle safety.
“Even now that the real facts are surfacing, I can’t accept it,” said Okamura. “I think many people here are struggling to accept it.”
It’s Kaizan, the belief that you can design perfection. It would be a good manufacturing philosophy if only there was a self-correcting mechanism for the inevitable flaws.
No car ever built was perfect and automotive technology does keep improving. But on board computers were a leap, and nothing in the world of cyber-technology ever suggested computer technology was perfect. You don’t trust your Dell running Vista, why would anyone ever trust what is at best your desktop computer’s idiot stepchild residing under your hood?
This isn’t Toyota- or Japan-bashing. Every major manufacturer who fucks up gets reamed for it. During the Firestone 500 recall in the ’70s, the Des Moines Register published a critical letter to the editor from me that resulted in our plant manager coming into the plant early so he could come down to my tractor tire bead machine to chew my butt out at 6 a.m.
If I criticized my employer in real time for manufacturing errors, why would I cut Toyota slack? It’s the principle. Own up to your errors and people will forgive you. Stonewall, and they’ll just remember what a heartless prick bastard you were.
Insurance saleswoman Junko Ida used a Japanese proverb to describe Toyota’s fate: The nail that stuck out is being hammered down. “But the nail will rise again,” she said.
A cliché that speaks to failures as clearly as it speaks to nonconformity. What it has to do with Toyota’s comeback, I can’t even guess. Nor can I guess why no account I’ve read other than CNN’s mentioned that Koua Fong Lee’s Toyota’s throttle was stuck open at 15% after the crash. Or that if Lee’s ‘96 Camry was defective, it means that Toyota’s been covering this problem up for over 15 years.
Toyota recalled more than 8 million vehicles, prompting Lee’s attorney to seek a re-examination of the vehicle in the 2006 accident.
“This never seemed right. A man with his family in the car — his pregnant wife — goes on a suicide mission? Then, the recalls started, and the complaints sounded just like what happened to Mr. Lee,” lawyer Brent Schaefer said. “It sounds just like a case of unintended acceleration.”
Schaefer says he has filed paperwork with the court stating his intention to retest the car, which remains in a vehicle impound.
“We plan to employ experts familiar with the ‘96 Camry and the components that make up car to show that rapid acceleration is to blame for the accident, not Mr. Lee accidentally stepping on the accelerator,” he said.
Gaertner said her office is willing to cooperate with the examination and see where the results lead.
“We have no interest in an innocent man being behind bars. Accordingly, we are very open to considering evidence that might show that in fact he wasn’t guilty,” Gaertner said. “If we’re going to disturb a conviction we need evidence.”
If governor-wannabee Gaertner wants to keep this conviction, it seems that she should have to prove that the County knows more about Toyotas than Toyota does. There was no science in Lee’s conviction, just the word of some engineers who didn’t know about these admittedly baffling problems saying that Lee’s account of the accident couldn’t have happened. Obviously they were wrong, and it is on the basis of their testimony that Lee was convicted.
Gaertner already has enough evidence to release Lee, but that would require acknowledging that he never should have been convicted in the first place.
Growing up I came to believe that you could not get a fair trial in the American South, at least not unless you were white. Right now I don’t know why any Hmong-American would feel like they could get a fair trial in Ramsey County. No science was involved in Lee’s testimony, just the assertions of a couple of glorified mechanics who couldn’t prove Lee was lying, but testified to that effect anyway.
This is important. Michael Fumento has written a ridiculous piece in defense of Toyota that sums up exactly how Lee’s trial must have gone. Read this except-ridden article to see what a wordsmith can do to make anyone sound guilty of anything simply by asserting circumstantial evidence and by ignoring the 53 deaths attributed to sudden acceleration in this country alone.
You can always manufacture a case against someone. That’s why “proof” is so important. What proof was used to convict Koua Fong Lee other than the testimony of a couple of engineers who couldn’t explain what had happened and therefore concluded driver error was to blame.
I’ve used that Snelling exit ramp many times. Had Lee not hit stopped vehicles he would have ripped into the busiest intersection in the Twin Cities at high speed. Ever been t-boned at high speed?
The accident could have been much worse than it was. As it is it was so bad that the Strib has finally written an editorial about the case.
A search of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration database yields about 20 sudden-acceleration complaints about the 1996 Camry. Often, no mechanical explanations were found. While there are similar complaints about other manufacturers’ cars from the same year, the Times’ analysis showed that Toyota had more speed-control complaints involving crashes over the past decade than any other manufacturer.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s office held onto Lee’s Camry because of the accident’s severity. Experts hired by lawyers representing the victims’ family, as well as Toyota, will likely get a chance to examine it soon. Whether they’ll find proof of sudden acceleration is uncertain given the vehicle’s damage. That could create a disturbing scenario. The Toyota recalls may have been enough to create reasonable doubt among jurors when Lee was tried. But without new mechanical evidence from the car, the recalls may not be enough to meet the legal threshold for a new trial.
The judge who will rule on the issue, as well as the prosecutors who will weigh in, face a challenging situation. Their highest priority no matter what: to ensure beyond a doubt that Lee isn’t paying the price for Toyota’s mistakes.
And Jonathan Turley finally weighs in.
-
The LAPD displayed the bloodied shirt, tie and jacket from Robert Kennedy’s assassination at an industry conference in Las Vegas recently. RFK’s son Maxwell writes:
I requested the return of my father’s items nearly a decade ago. My request was refused by the district attorney’s office. The D.A. promised, though, to keep the personal items with care and out of public view. Since then, courageous crime victims in California have forced a change in the state Constitution, requiring law enforcement officials to return victims’ property when it is no longer needed as evidence.
This week, despite that constitutional requirement, the chief of police and the district attorney took my father’s blood-soaked clothing and displayed it, as part of a macabre publicity stunt. It is almost incomprehensible to imagine what circumstances would have led to a decision to transport these items across state lines to be gawked at by gamblers and tourists. It is demeaning to my family, but just as important, it is demeaning to the trust that citizens place in their law enforcement officers.
When I called to express my surprise and disappointment, the chief maintained to me that hanging my dad’s bloody shirt from a mannequin in a casino was part of an effort to train detectives. Perhaps he believes that, but to me it seems like a cheap bid for attention. It is almost like a traffic cop inviting motorists to slow down and take a good look as they go past a tragedy.
The chief agreed to remove my father’s belongings from the exhibit. I’m pleased he did so. But he should also remember that such items are personal property, entrusted to the state’s care, not to be exploited. He relies on crime victims to prosecute virtually every criminal. He cannot long succeed if he continues to put victims’ pain on display for publicity.
And we sneered at the Communists for displaying the corpses of their leaders.
-
The netroots campaign for Bill Halter is working out well despite my fears that locals may object to out of state money, it appears that the locals are fed up with Blanche Lincoln’s centrist corruption and Blue Dog doubletalk (just like all other corruption, money is the bottom line).
I don’t like the netroots approach, but I cannot argue that our system has been corrupted by monied interest operating across state lines, and that our process is still so money-driven that reform is unlikely to happen without a lot of money being shoveled to the media parasites who profit from $20 million Senate races.
-
Since I’m technically dieting, I clicked to find out which three McDonald’s meals have been approved of by New Zealand’s Weight Watchers. A side salad, sure (your own dressing, I assume), but I didn’t expect to see Chicken McNuggets on their approved list, and I certainly didn’t anticipate the Filet-O-Fish making the cut.
From 1971 to the present I’ve never ordered a Filet-O-Fish that didn’t come with an ice cream scoop’s worth of tartar sauce on it. Even before I started working on my weight I routinely scraped as much of the tartar sauce off as possible.
No clue what’s going on here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kiwi who runs Weight Watchers down under isn’t driving a new car….
-
I would not object to changing my mailing address to St. Google, Minnesota, if it would get me super-fast broadband.
In other news of technology, Iowa is now getting 20% of their power from wind (not a Chuck Grassley or Steve King joke). Despite an oil-funded anti-wind study from Spain that is being widely disseminated by the anti-science right.
Aaron Datesman writes about how wind is a better investment than nuclear, Datesman also writes about a study that shows how North Dakota could power much of the nation simply by converting excess wind capacity into hydrogen generation.
There are solutions to our problems if only we would work to solve our challenges instead of deferring to those trying to profit from them. Provide a service and then figure out how to make money from it. Nothing good comes from seeking profit by any means available.
-
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf made $18.7 million last year for mismanaging the bank that handles my money. And Congress still can’t figure out what to do about it.
-
Etc.”
Senate GOoPs even obstructed judicial nominees they approved of
Palin on Leno (the ha-ha funniness of people who glory in the pain of others who are not them or their friends)
Evil “ego-driven” marketing
More on the lawyers smeared by Liz Cheney and Chuck Grassley (and more about how Rudy Giuliani’s law firm provided similar legal services)
Our Saudi allies to give woman who filed sexual harassment complaint 300 lashes
Eric Massa’s retirement announcement marred by weird allegations (disclaimer: I once rode on an elevator with Eric Massa, but we did not have sex)
The silver lining in Rangel stepping aside (do not give him his chairmanship back!)
Rob Levine on neocon lies
Texas Republicans owning up to the shittiness that was Bush
Digby on pederasts Catholics
Barack O’Hoover
Michael Moore on being represented by wusses
-
Al Wiesel, aka Jon Swift, R.I.P.
Michael Foot, R.I.P.
Politically not on the same page, but both had wit and passion and that works for me.
TOKYO, 04 Maret 2010 - Toyota Prius tetap menjadi mobil terlaris di Jepang walaupun penarikan global mobil Toyota juga terkait masalah pengereman mobil hibrida itu.
Lebih dari 27 ribu mobil hibrida bensin-listrik itu terjual pada bulan Februari, membuat Prius sebagai model terlaris 10 bulan berturut-turut, menurut data Asosiasi Dealer Mobil Jepang yang dikeluarkan hari Kamis.
Popularitas Prius yang tetap bertahan itu muncul saat penarikan produk Toyota mempengaruhi 8,5 juta produknya di seluruh dunia, termasuk generasi ketiga Prius di Jepang, yang ditarik terkait masalah pengereman.
Penjualan Prius didukung oleh reputasinya untuk memberikan jarak tempuh yang luar biasa dengan mengalihkan antara mesin bensin dan motor listrik serta potongan pajak dan insentif pemerintah lainnya.
Prius, juga menjadi hibrida terlaris di dunia, begitu populer di Jepang dengan daftar tunggu yang berlangsung sekitar enam bulan.
Namun pejabat Toyota mengakui beberapa orang membatalkan pemesanan sejak penarikan itu. Toyota mulai menawarkan perangkat lunak baru untuk memperbaiki masalah pengereman sejak bulan lalu.
General Motor’s product development leader, Bob Lutz, plans to retire on May 1st. Lutz, 78, has been working with GM since 1963. He is recently known for leading a complete overhaul of the company’s care lineup.
Some Toyota owners that took their cars’ in for the recall repair are still experiencing problems with acceleration.
In China, GM’s OnStar is growing in popularity very fast. It has reached 1000 users in 2 months, and looks like it will only grow faster as popularity spreads.
A new Porsche 918 Spyder Concept is turning heads, and not just for it’s looks. Shown at the Geneva Auto Show, this new concept is also “green”. This new hybrid gets 78 miles to the gallon. With a top speed of 198 mph that’s not bad!
Toyota has been dealing with negative backlash from the massive safety recalls of its vehicles; and is even suffering in terms of sales. So what does the company do to repair its image? Turn to Twitter, of course! The Japanese auto giant has launched a branded channel on TweetMeme, in partnership with Federated Media, which aggregates and organize Twitter conversations regarding Toyota.
Called Toyota Conversations, the site brings together the top stories being Tweeted about Toyota, from news articles to press releases. The site also shows visitors the most popular videos and images being shared about Toyota on Twitter. And the channel includes a Featured Tweets from Toyota’s Twitter account and press room as well as AdTweets, which are Tweetmeme’s retweetable ads for Toyota.
You may notice after taking a look at all of the top stories that are being aggregated on the site, that most of the news is positive. That doesn’t seem to match the general tone of the media writing about Toyota, which has been quick to criticize the car company for its manufacturing mistakes. If you take a look at Twitter sentiment app Tweetfeel, the sentiment of Tweets mentioning Toyota lean more negative. Tweetmeme channels can be set up to pick up only certain news sources. It looks like Toyota picked the friendlier ones.
That being said, it’s definitely interesting to see such a high-profile company taking to Twitter to try to reform its image by engaging directly in a dialogue with consumers. As we’ve seen with the recent Southwest/Kevin Smith incident, Twitter is influencing public relations in unprecedented ways. Now more than ever, brands are flocking to Twitter to not only monitor and track what’s being said about their company on Twitter but to influence and participate in the conversation.
Photo Credit/Flickr/Showmeone
CrunchBase InformationTweetMemeInformation provided by CrunchBase
GM just announced a recall of 1.3 million vehicles. For those of us who bought a 2006 Pontiac G4 in Mexico, it’s time to head back to the dealership for some new steering motors. Maybe this is why GM didn’t shouldn’t have piled on Toyota for its brake recall problems.
Anyway, I have a serious question. Unfortunately, I only have an honorary degree in economics. Therefore, I’d like to ask you whether it’s better for the US economy to buy an American car built in Mexico or a Japanese car built in America. I’m not trying to be contrarian, I’m genuinely curious. And I want to be able to proudly wear this shirt without anyone being able to call me a poser.
Toyota has been dealing with negative backlash from the massive safety recalls of its vehicles; and is even suffering in terms of sales. So what does the company do to repair its image? Turn to Twitter, of course! The Japanese auto giant has launched a branded channel on TweetMeme, in partnership with Federated Media, which aggregates and organize Twitter conversations regarding Toyota.
