Toyotas Now Worse Than Protons

Who would have thought that, someday, Toyota's reputation would take such a beating that it would be considered as worse than Proton? Well, with the massive recall of Toyotas because of faulty brakes and accelerators, Toyota is experiencing a massive drop in sales and, more importantly for Toyota car owners, massive drop in the resale value of Toyota cars.

It used to be that people would buy Toyotas if they wanted high resale value. Well, not anymore.

These days, you're better off with - hey! What do you know? - a Proton. At least Proton cars don't face brake failure and accelerator problems on a massive scale. And that's quite amazing, considering that Protons are not the best locally-produced cars in Malaysia.

Industry analysts have been quick to point out that the problem with Toyota lies in its corporate culture, which has reached such a state of complacency that, at the first signs of trouble, it went into a state of denial.

Well, Toyota is the vanguard of automotive quality, is it not? Truth be told, had Toyota been quicker to respond, in terms of reviewing its supply chain and quality control processes as well as responding to negative media publicity, it would not be facing as much trouble as it is facing now.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be the "low hanging fruit" by responding to every single negative media publicity. Other times, foot dragging makes things worse. Clearly, for Toyota, these are the "other times".

Interestingly enough, there were already signs of trouble way, way before the Press caught on to the problems faced by Toyota. In the first episode of the first season of Vampire Diaries, a Toyota Prius was shown skidding and swerving when a crow hit its windshield.

Well, with ABS working properly, that Prius should not have skidded or swerved at all. In fact, it takes a lot for an ABS-equipped car to skid uncontrollably.

Lo and behold! Today, Priuses are being recalled because of faulty ABS.

Anyway, it would take a lot for Toyota's reputation to recover. Meanwhile, consumers would be making beelines for other marques when buying new cars. At the very least, they won't have to worry about brake or accelerator problems.

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Addendum: I can't help but wonder if Nizar's accident, whereby his Camry overturned, is related to faulty accelerator? Camrys are among those being recalled.

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Addendum 2: When it comes to damage control, the game that companies play is basically "wait and see". It's quite normal to hold back for fear of adding fuel to fire. So, the reputation that I am referring to here, as asked by Anonymous, in the comments section below, is one that is hinged on timeliness.

With so much being said about Toyota's woes in America, the same kind of foot-dragging takes place, as it did in the US, in Malaysia. And I don't think that the back-log in order books for Toyota by one month is truly indicative that its brand image has been unaffected. If anything, the fact that the top producer of cars globally plays second fiddle to Honda in Malaysia is indicative that it is not coming out of the brake/accelerator debacle unfazed (despite the supposed fire-prone nature of Hondas, as alleged by Anonymous).

Of course, for people who have been loyal to the Toyota brand, they'll continue to buy Toyotas. Well, good for Toyota. What would have been better is if it came out strongly in support of itself in Malaysia and quickly at that.

For those who don't really care much for the brand, the beating Toyota is taking is just one more reason to look elsewhere.