Toyota and the end of Japan

[Emoni]

Toyota Is a Symptom of Japan's Decline

The title refers to the above news article that a friend introduced me to. Good read, and honestly I can't say it is much of a surprise. I often hear from Japanese friends from job interviews, or even just the general mentality how ridged and apathetic things seem to be. The most minor yet ultimately inconsequential things are turned into issues which are then focused on while a persons' applicable skills are overlooked.

Not a brand new college grad? Screw you!
Miss a year in high school and get delayed due to sickness? Well, that's gonna screw you for life now.
Don't smile or have the right voice we like? Doomed.
Female? You're fault!


Pretty much it gets down to "adapt or die." Japan has had plenty of forewarning of China's advancement, and the same can be said for the United States. Now it is arguably too late, and Japan will soon be in China's house in the coming years... and I don't find that comforting knowing all the things done by it's government.

 

[Elizabeth]

What Japan needs - leadership (not the kind that every just gives into authority), transparency, real crisis management, and to respect the laws/culture of the country they do business in. While transitioning to an information technology and software-based economy, industries in which it is now weak, on the back of its world-class high end sophisticated engineering and manufacturing systems. Just forget about one-upping the world in whiz-bang fancy electronics long enough to put the customer - safety and ease of use - first again. Best quote I saw on this : Think outside the box and get off your soapbox.

For sure it absolutely cannot survive competition from cheaper imports continuing to cling to the old model of heavy industries and consumer goods.


Thanks for the article. It doesn't seem certain that the country will be unable to reverse its decline. But as of now the Japanese people do appear to be deep in denial, not able to get their mindset around the fact that Toyota is in real turmoil.

 

[Elizabeth]

Oh, and another last thing: Perhaps a new openness in government and diplomacy under the DPJ will go some way to prevent this endless and extremely distasteful waste of public money year in year out. Like mandating airports to offer two or more flights in a single day.


BBC News - Japan opens 98th national airport in Ibaraki

 

[Chidoriashi]

I would still buy 100 Toyotas before ever throwing my money into Chrysler piece of sh*t. They produce horrible cars, avoid recalls at all costs and blame their customers for the problems they have with their rotten diarrhea *ss products. At least Toyota steps up and takes responsibility.

No matter how tarnished Toyota becomes from this, they won't even come close to companies like Chrysler and GM when it comes to making a sh*tty product. Those pathetic companies should have bit the dust. The world would have been a better place without them.

 

[Putrefaction]

I hear Fords are pretty reliable?

 

[Chidoriashi]

I hear Fords are pretty reliable?

Yeah, Ford has definitely gotten better. And produce the most reliable cars of all the American makers according to Consumer Reports.

 

[Tokugawa Ieyasu]

Japan's got problems, that's for sure.
But ﾂ"The end of Japan?ﾂ"
That was obviously a sensationalist headline for the purpose of increase online traffic and sell magazines.
Even Kublai Khan couldn't ﾂ"end Japanﾂ".

 

[Hezam]

End of Japan !
So Japan is not a country ! It's a Car factory !!

 

[Elizabeth]

Accept Responsibility. This is one area where Toyota seems to be doing a good job, albeit maybe three or four years or more too late...

But in their defense, I seriously cannot think of a single instance in the last 20 years where a Japanese company has done an even halfway acceptable job managing a crisis. With the exception of Panasonic's handling of the 2005 recall of millions of fan heaters over carbon monoxide poisoning -- the company immediately replaced all ads with a flurry of recall notices and apologies, which still remains on the company's Web site.

Because the costs of such negligence are low in Japan where compensation for product liability claims is mostly non-existent. So the real lesson from this debacle seems to me not to blame the company for foot dragging and poor communication but to bring on the lawyers and manufacturers into lawsuits over accidents most likely attributable to improper maintenance...

The "losing Japan" meme only seems more dire with Toyota because it is a huge source of Japanese identity. They were such a national icon of industrial excellence. And Japan's economic power is much greater relative to its national security power which means that Toyota's crisis likewise has disproportionate potential to undercut its global influence. What is bad for Toyota is worse for Japan and all that...

 

[Hezam]

Let's see the recall numbers for Toyota and the others:

Toyota, 9 recalls, 4,872,583 cars.
· Ford, 8 recalls, 4,521,993 cars.
· GM, 17 recalls, 2,242,230 cars.
· Hyundai, 7 recalls, 1,059,617 cars.
· Nissan, 6 recalls, 706,982 cars.
· Chrysler, 16 recalls, 590,044 cars.
· Honda, 4 recalls, 454,003 cars.
· Volvo, 7 recalls, 191,705 cars.
· Kia, 2 recalls, 176,382 cars.
· Mazda, 6 recalls, 131,920 cars.
· Volkswagen, 8 recalls, 100,764 cars.
· Mitsubishi, 4 recalls, 76,498 cars.
· Subaru, 1 recall, 21,357 cars.
· Jaguar, 2 recalls, 16,828 cars.
· Mercedes-Benz, 4 recalls, 16,356 cars.
· Maserati, 3 recalls, 8,736 cars.
· Ferrari, 2 recalls, 4,306 cars.
· Land Rover, 2 recalls, 4,041 cars.
· BMW, 2 recalls, 2,858 cars.
· Tesla, 4 recalls, 345 cars.
· Lotus, 1 recall, 87 cars.
· Roush, 1 recall, 81 cars.
· Bentley, 1 recall, 27 cars

So why Toyota this time and why all this bla bla bla ???
What about Ford ? Because it's american ?

I recomended you to read this articles :
Newyork Times
Toyota Has Pattern of Slow Response on Safety Issues (Published 2010)

another links:

http://www.airlinesafety.com/faq/B-737Rudder.htm

737 Rudder Problems Remain?

The Pulitzer Prizes

Toyota is the best whatever they say.

 

[Chidoriashi]

Let's see the recall numbers for Toyota and the others:
Toyota, 9 recalls, 4,872,583 cars.
· Ford, 8 recalls, 4,521,993 cars.
· GM, 17 recalls, 2,242,230 cars.
· Hyundai, 7 recalls, 1,059,617 cars.
· Nissan, 6 recalls, 706,982 cars.
· Chrysler, 16 recalls, 590,044 cars.
· Honda, 4 recalls, 454,003 cars.
· Volvo, 7 recalls, 191,705 cars.
· Kia, 2 recalls, 176,382 cars.
· Mazda, 6 recalls, 131,920 cars.
· Volkswagen, 8 recalls, 100,764 cars.
· Mitsubishi, 4 recalls, 76,498 cars.
· Subaru, 1 recall, 21,357 cars.
· Jaguar, 2 recalls, 16,828 cars.
· Mercedes-Benz, 4 recalls, 16,356 cars.
· Maserati, 3 recalls, 8,736 cars.
· Ferrari, 2 recalls, 4,306 cars.
· Land Rover, 2 recalls, 4,041 cars.
· BMW, 2 recalls, 2,858 cars.
· Tesla, 4 recalls, 345 cars.
· Lotus, 1 recall, 87 cars.
· Roush, 1 recall, 81 cars.
· Bentley, 1 recall, 27 cars
So why Toyota this time and why all this bla bla bla ???
What about Ford ? Because it's american ?
I recomended you to read this articles :
Newyork Times
Toyota Has Pattern of Slow Response on Safety Issues (Published 2010)
another links:
http://www.airlinesafety.com/faq/B-737Rudder.htm
737 Rudder Problems Remain?
The Pulitzer Prizes
Toyota is the best whatever they say.

Let's not forget many recalls are voluntary and many companies just flat out avoid doing recalls when they should have. Chrysler.... comes to mind

 

[Tokugawa Ieyasu]

Looks like the "out of control" Prius driver is the automotive equivalent of the "ballon boy".

he's over 700K in debt, with a history of fraudulent activities, and the operator of an "adult swing site"-quite a character!

An ironic end to the Toyota recall media feeding frenzy.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gc_pIFqke7WxQovY3MnhcyIYiLgwD9EDGCH80

 

[Elizabeth]

Toyota Is a Symptom of Japan's Decline

The title refers to the above news article that a friend introduced me to. Good read, and honestly I can't say it is much of a surprise. I often hear from Japanese friends from job interviews, or even just the general mentality how ridged and apathetic things seem to be. The most minor yet ultimately inconsequential things are turned into issues which are then focused on while a persons' applicable skills are overlooked.

Not a brand new college grad? Screw you!
Miss a year in high school and get delayed due to sickness? Well, that's gonna screw you for life now.
Don't smile or have the right voice we like? Doomed.
Female? You're fault!

This is interesting. Maybe its an effect of the economic downturn. Because from about 20 years ago in social discourse the word for individuality (kosei) had finally started being used in a positive sense. But personality is as ever a double edged sword in Japan. Develop the of children to the maximum while downplaying their rights as individuals and employees which might not to contribute to the harmony of the group.