- SITE SEARCH :
VIDEO: Toyota GB boss wants to rebuild trust with customers
Thursday 4 February 2010, 11:42
Toyota GB commercial director Jon Williams has addressed the UK over its recall problems in a Youtube video on Toyota’s UK blog.
Toyota’s reputation and unique selling point rests on the fact its models have a high-build quality and approximately 1.8 million vehicles across Europe have to be returned to dealerships as a result of problems with the accelerator pedal.
The Japanese brand's sales were down by 12.4% in the UK in January but the pedal recall would have happened too late in the month to have had a substantial effect.
Toyota dealers are likely to face a tough couple of months ahead as the UK's national press highlights the recall to consumers each day.
- Advertisement -
The repairs to rectify the recall will take 30 minutes and will be carried out free of charge. Toyota is working with dealers to negotiate extended opening hours to deal with the 180,000 vehicles which are to be recalled in the UK.
Williams said: "There’s nothing more important to us than safety. I drive a Toyota, my family and friends drive Toyotas and I wouldn’t allow my loved ones to drive our cars if I didn’t believe they were safe.
“At Toyota we have built our reputation on quality, durability, reliability and most importantly trust. We want to rebuild that trust will our customers by working through this issue.”
The following advice is being given to drivers:
In the event that a driver experiences an accelerator pedal that sticks in a partial open throttle position or returns slowly to idle position, the vehicle can be controlled with firm and steady application of the brakes.
The brakes should not be pumped repeatedly because it could deplete vacuum assist, requiring stronger brake pedal pressure.
The vehicle should be driven to the nearest safe location, the engine shut off and a Toyota retailer or road-side assistance should be contacted.
Toyota says it doesn't know of any accidents caused by the problem.
The recall of eight Toyota models in Europe was announced on January 28. The involved models in the UK include:
- iQ
- Aygo
- Yaris
- Auris
- Corolla
- Avensis
- Verso
AM magazine provides regular insight into manufacturer networks and dealer groups - to sign up for your magazine please click on the following link to subscribe:
AM also provides a monthly electronic magazine called AMe - this provides the latest analysis of new car sales figures each month and more news - to subscribe to this ezine please click the following link:
Your comments:
Seems I am on the correct planet after all and that Toyota has seen some sense. Instead of YouTube by a UK Director, we have Toyoda himself apologising.
A Japanese apologising for something is a rare thing, as every Chinese knows.
Now, Toyota need to fix the cars, stop putting the onus onto owners and communicate more honestly in the future. They really should stop printing PR lies. In this intrernet age, attitude and behaviour must be transparent.
And this motoring press and "journalists" should stop printing fawning sh1te and PR rubbish, and get to the heart of the issue.
Ling
A Japanese apologising for something is a rare thing, as every Chinese knows.
Now, Toyota need to fix the cars, stop putting the onus onto owners and communicate more honestly in the future. They really should stop printing PR lies. In this intrernet age, attitude and behaviour must be transparent.
And this motoring press and "journalists" should stop printing fawning sh1te and PR rubbish, and get to the heart of the issue.
Ling
LINGsCARS.com
05 February 2010, 22:18
05 February 2010, 22:18
Have your say:
You must be logged in - click here to login
Web links:
Related articles:
Would you change your current dealer management system if you could? Please leave a comment when you vote.
YES: 65.7%
NO: 34.3%
If the cars were safe, 9 million cars would not be being recalled in a mad panic by the public in USA and Europe. My own Toyota customers are screaming for advice.
"Toyota says it doesn't know of any accidents caused by the problem."
This seems to be a blatant lie. AM has printed that twice, now.
In October 2009, Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, was forced to publicly apologise for the tragic death of an American family who were killed when their Toyota vehicle suddenly accelerated out of control.
There have been over 15 alleged deaths and over 300 alleged injuries in accidents relating to this acceleration problem.
Daily Mail website: http://bit.ly/77ypBS
'We're in trouble - there are no brakes!'
On August 28, 2009, California Highway Patrol received a 911 call from a Lexus speeding along a road near San Diego. At the wheel was one of their own, 45-year-old Mark Saylor, an officer with 20 years' experience whose responsibilities included testing school buses for safety. He'd borrowed the car from a local dealership for a test drive. With him were his wife Cleofe, 13-year-old daughter Mahala and brother-in-law Chris Lastrella.
The car's throttle had jammed open and despite his training and experience, Saylor couldn't bring the car under control. It was travelling at between 100mph and 120mph when Lastrella called the police. As he spoke to them, their Lexus hit another car at an intersection and flipped 150 metres down into the San Diego River basin. All four were killed.
The problem was put down to the accelerator pedal jamming against a removable floormat. Akio Toyoda, just two months into his new job, made a public apology and Toyota was forced into the biggest recall in its history, with 3.8 million cars in the U.S. going back to dealerships to have floormats modified.
But the U.S. safety watchdog has an open investigation into whether the cause of the accident is more serious than poorly fitting floormats, and the company has been hit with at least two class-action lawsuits in the U.S. related to its safety record.
====
The BBC News is now playing the 911 tape about the Lexus driver dialling 911 then his whole family dying in the car crash. Showing a film of the crash.
Headlines in Thursday's Daily Mail are screaming in massive text "DON'T DRIVE YOUR TOYOTA!" It is front page news in most other papers. This will whip up massive additional public concern.
It is really about time AM started reporting this **massive** issue properly instead of printing Toyota press releases.
I have customers screaming at me for advice. Toyota's share price is 17% down.
WTF is going on? Toyota's handling of this stinks. It is still denying electrical acceleration issues and is being seen as misleading the public. Now there seems to be ANOTHER Prius brake issue going on. This is a massive crisis for the brand. The head of Toyota is invisible, having simply made a 20 second comment off the cuff at Davos.
The public should not have the Commercial Director (who I am sure is sincere) making a YouTube vid, but it should be the BOSS!
How long have Toyota known about this problem? Reports in America allege it goes back to 2002!
Am I on a different planet?
Ling
04 February 2010, 13:10