Ralph Jacobson

The Fix Isn't In at Toyota

March 4, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Are things going from bad to worse at Toyota? Not only has the automaker's reputation taken a hit with a massive recall but now at least 15 consumers who thought their cars' sudden acceleration problems were fixed, say they were not. What is your assessment of Toyota's response to the problems with its vehicles?      [more...]

This is a classic example of how NOT to handle a corporate crisis. This story will live on in textbooks forever. Bottom line, Toyota has absolutely NO IDEA what the problem(s) may be with their cars. It is software and until they physically replace the ECUs in all their cars over the past decade with ones that have rock-solid software code, there will continue to be "glitches." Hearing the woman's story about the car moving forward at full speed, AFTER she put it in neutral, reverse, and stepped on the brakes with both feet AND turned off the ignition, makes me say they have REAL problems with their software.