Just when I thought Toyota was going to completely pass the blame off to the manufacturers of the malfunctioning parts on their accellorators, they finally take a step in the right direction… they apologize. The first think I learned when I began studying Public Relations was that when something goes wrong, the first think a company should do is take responsibility. More often than not, this involves a heartfelt apology. Toyota President Akio Toyoda did express regret in October for the deaths of four people in a California crash related to the accelerator defects. Unfortunately, we did not hear from him again until February 1 as he apologized for “having made customers uneasy” with the recall of 5.6 million cars in the United States alone.
While I think this public statement of remorse is a step in the right direction for Toyota, I do not think that the communications Toyota has put forth during this crisis have relayed the urgency that their drivers are feeling when they put their families in the car every morning. Toyota’s attitude throughout the last few weeks has been to remain calm, cool, and collected. While they may have been aiming to appear as if they have everything under control, to me they have come off looking rather blasé. And as a brand that has been built on dependability, the last thing you want to portray to your loyal customers is that you don’t think they’re concerns for are important.
As their problems continue to grow with the announcement of brake issues in their 2010 Prius, the public will be looking for Toyota to be proactive with a solution to the issue. And while their competitors may be seeing blood in the water, I’m rooting for Toyota to be accountable for their mistakes and come up with a solution that reminds us all why they have some of the most loyal drivers around...
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