The "Toyota Way"

I thought I’d never see the day, but there it was in a full page ad in the Sunday Oregonian (and god knows how many other newspapers.) In huge and straightforward type are the printed words …

“Our Pledge To Toyota Drivers.”

It seems Toyota is getting serious. I gotta hand it to them, after months of perceived inactivity (and possible shushing of the depth of the known safety problems), they are now coming straight at this thing.

Yeah, they’re getting all “Tylenol” on us.

I won’t spoil it, if you should want to read it, but the key points are:

1. Quality, Quality, Blah, Blah, Blah
2. Safety
3. We Promise

True be told, I haven’t been following this situation as closely as I should considering there are two Toyotas in the family. Noriko is keeping up though. There are massive recalls in Japan. She reads Japanese internet sites daily and tells me that people in Japan are shocked by these events. In some case, this is a blow to their national pride. Noriko can’t even look me in the eye. She, like many of her Japanese cohorts, has always looked up to Toyota with pride and satisfaction. To do things the “Toyota Way” was a very good thing. There was no debate that Toyota made the best cars in the world.

The first big purchase Noriko and I made together as husband and wife was our Toyota 4Runner. We love it. Our dogs love it. Home Depot really loves it. I’d say we are loyal Toyota customers. As such, I suppose we should expect some respect from the company.

Hey, they said they appreciated our support!

In Japan, when someone makes a mistake, they bow and humbly apologize. They look down in shame as they beg for forgiveness. They are, in fact, actually shamed, and you kinda feel sorry for ‘em. They apologize, take their lumps, and move on. This ad was signed by Jim Lentz, who is President & COO of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. Lentz didn’t exactly apologize. He reassured. He explained. He said he appreciates our loyalty, but he didn’t apologize for anything. I’m not saying he owes us one, I’m just accustomed to seeing a “We’re Sorry” message in such missives.

Timing is everything, so the timing of the televised Winter Olympics was a golden opportunity for Toyota to get their message out. Out they did. Tonight, during the closing of the Vancouver Olympics, Toyota ran a series of commercials telling us they’re on top of things and oh, they appreciate our support. They are so appreciative – they want to thank us – so they’re offering zero% financing on all vehicles in stock at your local Toyota dealer.

Well, doesn’t that make us all feel better?! Gee, thanks, I guess.