Toyota Making Changes Globally

2011-09-23

Measures reflect some advice of experts in wake of recall crisis
In the year since Toyota Motor Corp. was engulfed in a massive safety and recall crisis, the automaker is making big and little changes across its global operations to restore its reputation and to react better and faster to signs of trouble in its vehicles.
Toyota identified many lapses on its own, but some key measures that it adopted were recommended by a panel of experts led by former U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.
The panel urged Toyota to regard safety as a top-priority issue and not just part of overall quality. It advised them to adjust its consensus-driven management structure to speed up response times, and be as vigilant against management failures as it is with production glitches.
Toyota is taking much of the advice, but not all. "There are a couple of areas where there's a difference in opinion or emphasis," Slater said.
For instance, the company hasn't followed the panel's recommendation to appoint a single executive in charge of all of its North American operations.
Toyota, which typically runs separate sales and manufacturing units all over the world, has instead established a nine-member executive committee representing North American sales, manufacturing and other areas.
Led by Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America in New York, it can convene and make decisions fast.
"I think they understood the point we were making," Slater said in an interview. "We just wanted to encourage them to have an organizational structure that allows them to move in a nimble fashion. Over time, we'll see how that plays out. At some point, they may have one person to lead North America."
In other areas, Toyota has moved decisively. It has appointed a global chief safety technology officer, Moritaka Yoshida.
Last week, the automaker announced partnerships with educational and other institutes to study distracted driving, child safety and other hazards. The studies done by its Collaborative Safety Research Center will be available to other automakers.
"I could see other leaders in the auto industry participating at some point," Slater said.
In a report issued in May, the panel urged Toyota to take a leadership role on industry issues, and be more responsive to external opinions and data, such as the mounting complaints of alleged unintended acceleration of cars filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Toyota drew more complaints of uncontrolled acceleration than any other automaker in the country in the past decade.
While the panel noted that U.S. investigations had found no evidence of electronic malfunctions in the vehicles, it said Toyota may not have sufficiently considered whether the design of the pedals and surrounding area or of the push-button ignition might have contributed to the problem. Ultimately, redesigned pedals were among the fixes made on recalled models.
Chief Safety Technology Officer Yoshida, who was in Ann Arbor last week for a safety seminar, said Toyota had broadened its notion of safety beyond the vehicle.
"In addition to manufacturing safer cars, we're taking into account how people use them," he told The Detroit News. "There's a new focus on that."
Toyota established the panel of experts in March 2010 at the height of the recall crisis. Including industry heavyweights such as former Lockheed Martin Corp. Chairman Norman Augustine, academics and safety experts, it issued its recommendations in the May report. The panel is now following up with Toyota to see how effectively the changes are being implemented.
The communication with Toyota President Akio Toyoda has been good, Slater said.
"The panel has not been shy about putting issues on the table in a forthright fashion. He listens to them very carefully and responds quite well."
Slater said Toyoda's commitment to the carmaker founded by his grandfather reminded him of the situation at Ford Motor Co., "another firm where the cars bear the family name." The two companies are cooperating on hybrid technology and may work together on other projects, he said.
For many years, Toyota's rivals studied the automaker's methods and improved as a result. But Toyota may not have learned as much from others, Slater said. "They may have become just a little comfortable with their success."

CHRISTINE TIERNEY
/ The Detroit News