What's behind Toyota's string of recalls?
Toyota鈥檚 recall of 2.3 million cars and trucks is the latest in a string of recalls that could tarnish the Japanese automaker's reputation for safety.
Thursday鈥檚 announcement recalling several Toyota models because of a flawed gas pedal comes on the heels of one of the worst years for the automaker in terms of recalls. Toyota had nine major recalls in 2009, affecting about 4.9 million vehicles. According to a Detroit Free Press report, that鈥檚 the most number of vehicles affected by safety recalls of any automaker in a single year.
鈥淧eople aren鈥檛 buying Toyotas because they鈥檙e sporty or sexy, they鈥檙e buying them because they鈥檙e practical and reliable,鈥� says Jake Fisher, senior automotive engineer at Consumer Reports. 鈥淏ut by chipping away from that, [Toyota is] going to find itself losing customers quite quickly.鈥�
What鈥檚 behind all the recalls? Cost-cutting and a push for efficiency may be two big reasons, says auto safety expert Byron Bloch.
In order to streamline design and production, car manufacturers sometimes share one unique component 鈥� say, a pedal accelerator 鈥� among many different vehicle models, says Mr. Bloch.
In order to be competitive, he says, a manufacturer might decide to use the components it already has for a sedan and make it work in an SUV, or a coupe, or a crossover. 鈥淪uddenly, what was designed for vehicle A is suddenly being used for vehicles B and C and J,鈥� he adds.
Sharing components is a common practice in the auto industry, and perhaps becoming more so as the industry becomes more competitive and cost-conscious. And it鈥檚 not necessarily a bad thing.
When a manufacturer creates a component to be shared across different vehicles, it puts 鈥渁ll [its] engineering behind one thing and makes it work really well,鈥� says Consumer Reports鈥� Mr. Fisher. 鈥淏ut on the flip side, if you have one problem, it鈥檚 going to be everywhere.鈥�
As Toyota works to fix the problem now affecting many of its vehicle models, it must also figure out how to undo the damage to its reputation.
To that end, the recall is a smart, preemptive move, says Fisher.
鈥淭he fact that they鈥檙e doing the recall shows they鈥檙e trying to nip the problem in the bud,鈥� he says. The recall may hurt their public image, but it doesn鈥檛 necessarily hurt their safety rating, he adds. 鈥淚f Toyota has a recall prior to a problem, that鈥檚 not necessarily going to count against them.鈥�
Given Toyota鈥檚 long record and how it is currently handling the problem, the automaker will probably be able to salvage its image, experts say.
鈥淭he company has generally been one of the true leaders in vehicle safety and reliability,鈥� Bloch says, adding that in this case, he thinks the company is responding to the issue. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to get to bottom of it and correct it. I think they鈥檙e treating it seriously.鈥�
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