Toyota VP Frustrated by Negative Media

[mustang84]

http://wardsauto.com/home/Toyota_negative_headlines_091214/

DANA POINT, CA – After four months of intensely critical media scrutiny for a 4.2 million-vehicle recall linked to unintended acceleration, Toyota Motor Corp. again is making bad news for a stalling issue involving Corolla and Matrix models.

And one top Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. executive suggests bias has set in.

“Now that we’ve had so much reporting about the floor mats, any news on Toyota is lopsided,” Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager-Toyota Div., tells Ward’s here during a Sienna minivan preview.

“I’m not discounting our responsibility here, but we’re in an atmosphere where there’s much more media interest in us,” Carter says. “Ford (Motor Co.’s cruise control recall) is many, many, many vehicles more than 4.2 million."

Edited December 17, 2009 by mustang84

[Z-06]

Welcome to the three decades long distress that domestic automakers have been facing. Toy you wanted to be American now be one. You cannot only have the positive side.

[Justin Bimmer]

Wow, he has already stooped to the reverse the heat method! DAMN!

[gm4life]

What a baby, the big three have been getting it for years. My advice "man up" and get used to it.

[Drew Dowdell]

.:violin:..:violin:..:violin:..:violin:

[Intrepidation]

My heart bleeds for him.

[A Horse With No Name]

It sucks to be behind the curve...

Sucks to be him!

Chris

[Paolino]

Yeah, but how long before they add 400K Corolla/Matrix and X-amount of Tundras and whatever will be recalled next week, to the 3.8 million they have already.

Edited December 17, 2009 by Paolino

[A Horse With No Name]

...and if anything the media is just now starting to get honest. The Scion TC is off of the Consumers Reports reccomended list because of poor side impact crash test results...and Consumers Reports also said that the Malibu and Fusion were BOTH more reliable than the Accord or the Camry.

I like the GM ad for the Malibu that says..."An Accord is by definition a compromise..."

Brilliant!

Of course, it's helping that Honda and Toyota are building their ugliest vehicles ever...Corolla anyone....Crosstour...Any Acura Built...oatmeal bland Lexus?

Chris

Chris

[Blake Noble]

[A Horse With No Name]

Yeah, but how long before they add 400K Corolla/Matrix and X-amount of Tundras and whatever will be recalled next week, to the 3.8 million they have already.

Better get a witch doctor to conjur the Tundra back up from posdered dust...er..I mean rust...

[FAPTurbo]

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

I decided to rewrite a song about this:

You Better Face It Toyota...It Is Over..

Hit it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGOlDAvw0ng

Face It, Toyota, it Over

When you look at a Toyota and its ugly as hell

And the buyer turns away

Sitting at a corner Toyota dealer

And theres nothing much to say

Does media have to draw you pictures

Does the media have to spell it out

Face it Toyota, the free ride its over

Wo-oyeah, its over

When the buyer glances at his watch

And it isn't late

And you try to amuse him

And he doesn't concentrate

Just how plainly can the media tell you

Do they have to shout out loud

Face it Toyota, its over

Whats the use in hanging on

As being number one slowly slips away from you

Don't go along for the ride

Keep some semblence of pride

There's really nothing you can do

There's nothing you can do Toyota

So the time has come, I know, for that last hurrah

Guess you have to go on living, when its easier for Tundra to rust and die

Get the strength enough to take it

Take it like a Camry should

know, I know,

I

know its over

It's over

[z28luvr01]

[mustang84]

[regfootball]

hey, bob carter, "---K OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

There IS a god!

[smk4565]

If he doesn't like negative press, maybe he should work on not selling defective floor mats and cars that rust. Beyond the Tundra tailgate problems, it seems like whenever I see a late 90s or 2000-2001 Toyota or Lexus it has rust on it. A car shouldn't have rust when it is 8-10 years old. All Toyota makes is appliances, and they aren't even as good as Honda's appliances.

Toyota is getting arrogant, they better not forget how they got on top in the first place. If Toyota gets complacent like GM did, they'll fall like GM did, because Hyundai is looking a lot like Toyota of 1990 but growing faster. And I'd love to see Hyundai eat into Toyota's market share and take them down.

[ocnblu]

Champagne anyone? Huzzah! Oh What A Feeling!

[PurdueGuy]

If he doesn't like negative press, maybe he should work on not selling defective floor mats and cars that rust. Beyond the Tundra tailgate problems, it seems like whenever I see a late 90s or 2000-2001 Toyota or Lexus it has rust on it. A car shouldn't have rust when it is 8-10 years old. All Toyota makes is appliances, and they aren't even as good as Honda's appliances.

Toyota is getting arrogant, they better not forget how they got on top in the first place. If Toyota gets complacent like GM did, they'll fall like GM did, because Hyundai is looking a lot like Toyota of 1990 but growing faster. And I'd love to see Hyundai eat into Toyota's market share and take them down.

Wow... I... I agree with something smk wrote. Well, except replace Hyundai with hoping Ford and/or GM get their act together enough to be the ones to eat up Toyota's market share. Though I'd say Hyundai might be more likely to take a larger share.

Toyota has been arrogant for a while now. They set their sites on being the biggest, and let any quality focus they had left go (though I personally think it's always been more talk and smoke & mirrors than an actual through and through company creed). A company can get away with making bland cars if they are also uber reliable, safe, etc. But they've gone from being a little better (but good at convincing people they were a lot better) to not as good (and at times not good at all), and it's showing.

[ShadowDog]

... Toyota has been arrogant for a while now. They set their sites on being the biggest, and let any quality focus they had left go (though I personally think it's always been more talk and smoke & mirrors than an actual through and through company creed). A company can get away with making bland cars if they are also uber reliable, safe, etc. But they've gone from being a little better (but good at convincing people they were a lot better) to not as good (and at times not good at all), and it's showing.

Beyond this, I'd say Toyota simply forgot that in order to retain the public perception of high-quality, they actually have to continue to deliver. What ever the reason for their mistakes, it appears they stopped putting the product as their number one priority. With their original reputation, they had the market and the profit aplenty. If they had kept on that product mission, their market would have never suffered.

I feel they simply tried too hard to capture the market that the Big 3 (particularly GM) was losing and it was too much, too fast, too bad.