What far-reaching significance the Toyota recall brings to the automotive industry

At the time of the Spring Festival in China, the U.S. government also brought good news to Toyota of Japan.

On February 8, 2011, the US Department of Transportation released the results of a survey on the correlation between Toyota's electronic throttle control system and "involuntary sudden acceleration." The conclusion was that Toyota Motor's electronic throttle control system was not found to be defective. . At this point, the "controversy" between Japan's Toyota Corp. and the U.S. government agencies over whether Toyota Motor Corp. has a defective electronic throttle has come to an end.

Recalling that at this time last year, Toyota's frequent recalls due to quality problems were pushed to the cusp. I did not expect Toyota Motors to be put on a "big Oolong" one year later. At the same time, the "quality gate" incident that lasted for nearly a year did have a profound impact on the global automotive industry.

Toyota recalls global concern for car quality

At the end of last month, Toyota had recalled more than 10 models including Crown, Reiz, and Lexus IS250 at the same time due to defects in fuel pipes and fuel pumps, defects in fuel pressure sensors, and defects in spare tire retaining devices in some models. About 1.7 million cars inside. In this global list, the Chinese mainland market is prevented from being recalled for reasons such as “without using defective components” and “the problem vehicle has not been put into the Chinese market”. However, judging from various reactions, the Chinese car market cannot be truly Stay out of business.

Since the Toyota recall incident, the people of China once expressed disappointment and suspicions about the recall of cars. This has also made Chinese consumers still excessively sensitive to the issue of “car recalls” as long as domestic brands are involved. In the recall, consumers will show too much worry. It can be said that it is Toyota's massive recall that has caused consumers to pay more attention to car recalls and car quality issues.

In this regard, the well-known automotive industry commentator Jia Xinguang (microblogging) recently analyzed that for a long time, the imperfections in domestic auto quality supervision and mechanism, as well as the lack of integrity of manufacturers, constituted the biggest reason for consumers to “recall allergies”. In countries where the recall system is relatively mature, regulators often give auto companies a certain amount of pressure. For example, in the United States, if companies deliberately hide their complaints, they will be subject to high fines. The complaints from Chinese car owners are more of a game between individuals and enterprises. The lack of supervision has given companies a space of indifference, and it is impossible for the outside world to know whether companies have concealed a certain number of complaints. Therefore, the pressure from the government is the best driving force for the standardization of industry quality supervision.

“On the other hand, the Toyota recall incident also has a positive impact. At least domestic consumers are paying more attention to the quality of automobiles and awareness of rights protection. At the same time, the relevant authorities in the country are also monitoring the quality of automobiles. Rise." Another senior automotive expert said.

The crisis of confidence has caused consumer markets to shrink

During the worst period of Toyota recalls, the sales of some Japanese automobile production brands were once affected by Toyota recalls, and the overall “Japanese car” image was forced to face the greatest “confidence crisis”. This is reflected not only in the automotive market in Europe and the United States, but also in the Chinese market.

In addition, since 2009, Toyota Motor has recalled about 16 million defective vehicles, of which the United States has accounted for 8 million, and the Chinese market, which has been ranked first in the world’s automobile sales for two consecutive years, has only recalled hundreds of thousands of vehicles. However, less than 5% of the total number of recalls. The huge contrast also caused consumers to show dissatisfaction with Toyota’s “differentiated country treatment”.

Some media have investigated this and the results show that most Chinese consumers are actually more tolerant of American automakers than they are American consumers. However, Toyota’s attitude towards Chinese consumers is obviously different from that of American consumers. This is unacceptable and indirectly leads to the obstruction of Toyota’s sales growth in China.

Now, the two managing directors of Toyota Motors, Kato Masaru and Maori Moruo, and Toyota’s newly established Quality Assurance Department and Design Quality Improvement Department, reiterated Toyota’s commitment to quality assurance in the future, emphasizing “customer perspective”. In addition to the response based on technology, laws, and regulations, it also aims at the changes in the market environment and the use environment of regions like China, and strives to save consumer confidence and shake off the crisis of confidence. However, from the current public opinion, Toyota Motor has much work to do to restore the trust of Chinese consumers.

Enterprise development process is forced to delay

For Toyota Motor, 2010 is the darkest day in its history. The data shows that in 2010 Toyota Motor sold 8.39 million GM cars with a sales performance of 8.42 million. However, in the US market, Toyota Motor was the only car manufacturer with a declining sales volume.

Obviously, the problem of automobile quality has also caused a great impact on Toyota Motor itself, and even further hindered the development process of auto companies.

A few days ago, Toyota Motor Corp. plans to cut board members and executives to save operating costs in the face of increasing competition in the market news has also attracted the attention of the industry, it is learned that through the reduction of board members, Toyota Motor will put its top management The number of members is reduced from the current 77 to about 60. This decision is likely to be formally announced in April.

It is understood that Toyota has set its sales plan in China at 910,000 in 2011, which is not as large as the 840,000 in 2010. Obviously, Toyota Motor Corporation still maintains a cautious attitude toward China’s development. Toyota Motor China Investment Co., Ltd. has told reporters recently that due to Toyota's “big leapfrog” development over the past few years, many problems have arisen within the company. Therefore, this year and next year are still Toyota’s self-reflection period and will not be eager for quick success. Rapid growth.

The Toyota recall incident has come to an end. Toyota Motor and even the global automotive industry have learned differently from this incident. The entire incident has indeed played an important role in the development of the global automotive industry.