An Inside Exclusive with Toyota: Talking Recalls, Reputation, Reliability and More

Like Tiger Woods, almost daily Toyota has been the front page story of most print, television, radio and Internet outlets. Just like Woods, this time the press isn't focusing on their once stellar reputation. Ironically, both Woods and Toyota are fighting to regain confidence with the public.

      

To  To get a first hand account on what Toyota has to say about the barrage of negative press they've garnered over the safety of their vehicles, we finally caught up with Jim Colon, the vice president of sales for the Toyota division (and the former vice president of sales for Lexus) to ask a few questions. Colon, who is a Toyota lifer, rose through the ranks at the automaker, becoming the first and only African American to oversee the sales division of any foreign automaker in the history of the auto industry.

 

JeffCars: Jim, several weeks ago Ray LaHood, the transportation secretary, was quoted as saying, “My advice is if anybody owns one of these (recalled) vehicles, stop driving it, and take it to a Toyota dealer.” Hours later LaHood retracted the statement. Also in the eighties, as you know, Audi became the poster child for sudden acceleration, sales slid into the gutter and it nearly drove the company out of business. It took the German automaker nearly two decades to turn the company around. What specifically is Toyota doing to make sure that they don’t travel down the same path as Audi? And, when a prominent figure like LaHood make such a statement, how does Toyota reassure their customer base (and future Toyota buyers) who have basically lost confidence with the company and are strongly considering purchasing another brand?

Jim Colon: Let me answer these two questions together, since I think they’re related. As our President Akio Toyoda told Congress, we have taken decisive steps to restore the trust of the tens of millions of Americans who purchase and drive our vehicles. By far, the most important thing current and potential Toyota drivers need to know is that nothing is more important to us than the safety and reliability of the vehicles they drive. Toyota engineers have developed effective and durable solutions for the vehicles we have recalled, and dealers continue to make extraordinary efforts to complete these recalls quickly and conveniently for our customers.

We are also making fundamental changes in the way our company operates in order to ensure that Toyota sets an even higher standard for vehicle safety and reliability, responsiveness to customers and transparency with regulators. These include changes at the global, regional, and customer level, including efforts to make Toyota more responsive to consumer concerns and more aggressive in investigating customer complaints. In addition, we are taking the significant step of making Toyota one of the first full-line automakers to have brake override systems as standard on all new models sold in North America. 
 

 

JeffCars: And to those critics who say Toyota has lost their reputation for building reliable vehicles and grew too fast, what is your response?
 
Jim Colon: Our goal has never been to be the Number 1 selling automaker, but rather to be Number 1 in the hearts and minds our customers. Over our more than 50-year history in the U.S., Toyota vehicles have been some of the safest and most reliable cars on the road. Our dedication to our customers, safety, quality and reliability is the foundation upon which this company was built, and that remains just as strong today.

 

JeffCars:  Ironically, a recently released study compiled by Edmunds.com, using data received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, revealed numerous automakers being hit with the same complaint as Toyota  -- as it relates to sticky gas pedals. While Toyota has a higher number of complaints registered that their competitors, why do you think Toyota is in the hot seat as opposed to the other automakers over this issue?
 
Jim Colon: I don’t want to speculate on that question. At Toyota, we’re focused on making sure that our cars are the safest and most reliable on the road, and that we’re going out of our way to listen to and respond to the concerns and complaints of our drivers.

 
JeffCars:  Jim, so what procedure should customers follow to have the gas pedal recall addressed?  Should they wait for a recall letter from Toyota or should they just stop by their local dealer?
 
Jim Colon: If a driver of a vehicle involved in the accelerator pedal recall is not currently experiencing symptoms of a sticking accelerator pedal, they should wait to receive the recall letter in the mail. Upon receipt of an owner notification letter that their vehicle is involved, owners are asked to contact their local Toyota dealership to schedule an appointment to have their vehicle fixed. To be clear, the sticky pedal condition is extremely rare and generally does not occur suddenly. So, if the customer is not currently experiencing symptoms of a sticking accelerator pedal, the vehicle is safe and can be driven until taken to the dealership for servicing. A driver who feels he or she is currently experiencing an accelerator pedal that is hard to depress, slow to return or isn't smooth during operation -- should drive the vehicle to a safe location, shut off the engine and contact a Toyota dealer for assistance.
 
 

JeffCars: What are your dealers doing to accommodate customers, now? Longer service hours? Mobile repairs?
 
Jim Colon: Our dealers are doing an outstanding job of taking care of customers as quickly and conveniently as possible. Toyota dealers are servicing over 50,000 vehicles per day and have already modified more than one million vehicles since the remedy was announced. Many dealers across the country have offered extended service hours and some have stayed open 24 hours a day. We’ve also seen dealers adding service and scheduling personnel, dedicating body shop capacity to expedite repairs, providing free car washes and oil changes, increasing owner communication, and providing complimentary maintenance service. These are just a few examples of the customer-focused efforts we’ve seen, but customers should contact their local dealerships to inquire about the specifics in their area.
 
JeffCars: Since you have so many vehicles affected by this recall, can a non-authorized Toyota dealer make the repair? How about a Lexus dealer, since this is a part of the Toyota family?
 
Jim Colon: The recall modifications must be completed by authorized Toyota dealerships, which are very well suited to handle the high volume of recall related repairs quickly and efficiently. Lexus dealerships and independent facilities do not have the tools or supplies necessary to properly service the recalled vehicles.
 

 
JeffCars: How long should the actual gas pedal recall repair take? Will Toyota provide free loaner vehicles (or shuttle service) while the customers wait?
 
Jim Colon: The actual repair itself takes less than 30 minutes to complete, and Toyota dealers across the country are going out of their way to make this process as convenient and trouble-free for their customers as possible. In addition, Toyota has worked in cooperation with Attorney Generals from across the country to provide additional services to customers who are concerned about driving their vehicles before the repair is completed. These services will be tailored to the owner’s individual circumstances, but may include expediting scheduling of the repair; pick-up and return of the vehicle by a dealership representative; driving the customer to the dealership or to his or her place of work; and providing other alternate transportation for the customer where necessary.
 
JeffCars:   How long will it take to repair all of the vehicles affected by the gas pedal recall? Weeks? Months?
 
Jim Colon: What I can tell you is that our dealers have been working extremely hard to address this issue as quickly and conveniently as possible for our drivers. They are repairing vehicles as fast as they can.

 

JeffCars: When will the floormat recall be resolved?
 
Jim Colon:  In November 2009, Toyota announced a voluntary safety recall to address the potential risk for floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals, and then followed by announcing a remedy that will include reconfiguring the shape of the accelerator pedal. The remedy process for these vehicles began at the end of 2009 and is occurring on a rolling schedule during 2010. Owners of the involved vehicles that have not yet been remedied are asked to take out any removable driver’s side floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat.  

 

 

JeffCars: Jim, what lesson has Toyota learned from both major recalls?

Jim Colon: In particular, we recognize that we need to more aggressively investigate complaints we hear directly from consumers and move more quickly to address any safety issues we identify.  We also are putting in place steps to do a better job within Toyota of sharing important quality and safety information across our global operations.
 
JeffCars: Toyota sales were down last month, while your Lexus brand increased? At what point do you think Toyota sales will rebound? This summer? This year? Next year?

Jim Colon: It's hard to peg a specific timeframe to when we’ll experience a year-over-year sales gain right now. However, Toyota’s February 2010 sales were up 3.8 percent over the month of January on a volume basis, despite the recall and stop-sale measures early in the month, which is a promising sign that Toyota will continue to be a strong brand sales-wise over the near and long-term.


JeffCars: As a side note, Toyota introduced another all-dedicated hybrid at this year’s North America International Auto Show, which is expected to be smaller than the Prius. While hybrids only represent abou  it 2 to 3 percent of total U. S. sales, and with your company being the leader in hybrid technology, how does Toyota plan on encouraging more consumers, specifically the minority community, which has yet to catch the hybrid fever?
 
Jim Colon: At this year's NAIAS (North America International Auto Show or Detroit's Auto Show) Toyota revealed a compact size hybrid concept car and announced the development of a marketing strategy for a Prius family of vehicles. By offering a wider range of Prius vehicles in size and price, we hope to attract a larger and broader group of hybrid customers. At Toyota, we recognize that an entry-level hybrid vehicle with a lower price point would provide a great opportunity to attract new owners who are looking for an even more affordable hybrid alternative.
 
JeffCars.com:  Thanks Jim for taking time out of your schedule to address questions that have been on the mind of many current and potential Toyota customers.