Did Toyota Sell Out It's Hard Earned Reputation To Become Number One?

yes. toyota has already admitted that they veered off course by fixating on volume.

Why do you think they have a new person running the company? Toyota wanted to prove they could do anything better than GM so they went and made crappier cars just to prove a point. Thank goodness the new number 1 aka VW is smart enough not to make the same mistake, a high five to them for also becoming #1 without selling a single pick up truck.

http://images.google.ca/images?q=vw%20taro&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

There's worse than that :
http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&um=1&sa=1&q=toyota+cavalier&aq=f&oq=&start=0

the US GOV'T imposes a whopping HUGE duty on all imported trucks. something like 25% (vs. a mere 2.5% for cars).

apparently, this is in recognition of just how INefficient and uncompetitve u.s. trucks are compared to foreign rivals.

I never thought their reputation was concretely there! If you you look back at the history of their cars they we never known for safety and their reputation for reliability was more social perception engineering by toyota then reality!!

LOL!

appaprently you never saw ANY of the CR charts with black (bad) and red dots that graphically displayed repair/reliability rates.

many toyota models have only one --or NO-- black dots over a six or eight year span. of the domestic --and euro-- brands, only ford comes close with a low 'black dot' count.

not a few domestics have 4 or 5 times MORE black than red dots.

and these all are the result of OWNER reported problems.

bottom line, many 10-yr old toyotas are still more reliable than most of the competition only HALF as old or less.

if you doubt this, go used car shopping. there is a REASON used toyotas cost more than equivalent age competitors. the market KNOWS used toyotas will rarely demand as many REPAIRS as other brands.

"Agent009," your assertion follows this line of (flawed) reasoning...

(1) Years ago, Toyota decides to differentiate itself by increasing "quality" as a strategy to increase unit sales and customer loyalty. In Toyota's case, they defined "quality" to mean "lack of defects", and a moderately high level of perceived luxury.

(2) Toyota succeeds, as is demonstrated by low defect numbers, glowing reviews in the media, and noticeably, ever-increasing unit sales.

(3) This is where your thinking falls apart: Somewhere, in the midst of this success, the leadership team at Toyota decides it wants to be the biggest auto manufacturer, as measured by unit sales, and in order to achieve this objective, they choose to abandon their previously stellarly successful strategy, and instead, choose to adopt a strategy in which they make *worse* vehicles with more defects. The classic "sell out" story.

Your suggestion does not make sense to me. For those who have not studied the dynamics of The Number One Thing, be that car manufacturers (GM), world leader countries (UK in the 1700's Industrual Revolution), or just about anything: They follow a predictable pattern while rising to the Number One position, resulting in arrogance, relying on reputation, being challenged by others, and then decline from the Number One spot.

Nothing lasts for ever. This is the natural order of existence. Toyotal didn't "sell out". It merely became a victim of its own success. Much like the previous Number One place-holder, General Motors.

Now I don't for a minute suspect that Totoya will suffer the same eventual state as GM does now, but I do see naturally-occurring dynamics at play, and no "sell out" Conspiracy Theories being responsible for Toyota's "fall from grace."

They still make great vehicles. It's just that we've lost our "they can do no wrong" belief in the Toyota company.

Toyotas are still good cars, but I also know the rest of the industry has caught up to them in every way and even surpassed them in some cases. The easiest example of this is Hyundai and Kias rise out of the basement. But when everyone is shooting for number one it is bound to happen. We just have to see if Toyota is capable of changing some things around to maintain that spot.

many, many years ago, toyota did a study of what owners desired MOST in a car. power? style? size? prestige?

nope. the NUMBER ONE desire, was to never ever have a breakdown and be stranded away from home. (this was a number of years ago.)

toyota took that guideline to heart, and has been building the tuffest, most bulletproof vehicles ever since. the ultimate being the famed Land Cruiser, but nearly every other model is just as reliable, if not quite as tough. honestly, just how OFTEN do you ever see a toyota behind a tow truck? and not after a crash?

whenever toyotas DO have a mechanical failure of any kind, it is almost NEVER so critical that you could not STILL drive to a shop, if not all the way home. this has NOT changed. and is not likely to.

Toyota rode easy credit markets and sold a lot of cars. I don't know if they were chasing the #1 title or just got greedy. They still are great car company but need to keep things simple and focus on the basics.

yes

Noticed in WSJ and LA Times Lexus seems to be hiding under Toyota umbrella. ES/RS mentioned later in articles. Lexus name hardly appears. I thought Lexus was a "seperate" car company.

You all know this is part of the automotive industry. When you are number one or want to be number one it's easy to make mistakes and easy to be sidetracked. You are concentrating so hard to be NO.1 that you forget to stop and look at everything. Whether its the Lexus line or Toyota they are also not immune to imperfections as any brand would be.

I am looking forward to when they start making good trucks again with two solid axles and reliable, and Toyota's idea of fixing the rust problem is useless unless they replace the whole frame with the proper blend of metal to resist rust, Yes Toyota cheeped out on the metal to save a few bucks, pathetic, I will buy a Honda car or a Ford Truck instead.

I have long believed that they sold their reputation for that top spot. They attacked it with single-mindedness that was disgraceful. I mean...Toyota...in NASCAR? How much more pathetic can a car company get? VW is walking into that very trap and it will only be a matter of time before they too feel the pressures of their push for the top spot.

What is wrong with Toyota racing in Nascar? Toyota must have improved in Nascar after they were caught cheating,lol Does anyone know how Toyota does now? Racing always improves technology. Does anyone remember the blog on Toyota when they had rusty frames on there Tacoma? That was due to Toyota saving money on metal in there vehicles, the result was rusty frames, looks like they never fixed that, shame on Toyota, lets face the facts, the only fix would be to get a new frame, anything connected to the frame has the potential to rust off causing a potentially fatal accident. How can you sell out to be number 1? My idea of being number one is to make something with quality and the best engineering combined with efficiency that I would like to own.

LOL! quite true, invisible.

but truckman's statement is NOT wrong in all the OTHER racing venues. in chasing the #1 engine maker, honda, toyota did amazingly well in CART, Indycar, F1. they have come a LONG WAYS since their intro into the u.s. with pushrod engines. (strange that they REverted to pushrod stone age tech just to play the nascar game.)

ITS NOT TRULY "HARD EARNED" IF THEY REPEATEDLY COVERED UP THE TRUTH IN ORDER TO OBTAIN BETTER RATINGS.

I, FOR ONE, WOULD NOT BUY A TOYOTA PRODUCT. THEY CLAIM TO BE A GREEN COMPANY YET THEY BUILD ONE OF THE MOST POLLUTING TRUCKS ON THE MARKET. THEIR MOTTO SHOULD BE, "WE"LL BE ANYTHING YOU WANT US TO BE, AS LONG AS YOU BUY OUR PRODUCTS". SIMILARLY, THEY CLAIM TO HAVE THE BEST QUALITY YET THEY KEEP GETTING SUED FOR HIDDING REPORTS OR MISREPRESENTING THE TRUTH... NO THANKS.

vulcan-- even toyota's thirtiest trucks are STILL at least LESS thirsty than the competition. sometimes even competitors that have LESS power!

the ONLY WAY toyota 'sold out' was in using more american rather than japanese suppliers. every mfgr relies on suppliers for most parts, concentrating mainly on drivetrains, assembly, and of course design in house.

most of the recalls have been due to their SUPPLIERS sending parts not up to typical toyota/japan standards. this INCLUDES the improperly rustproofed frames.

there was nothing wrong with the gas pedals in this latest brouhaha. they are just taking a hit for the few IDIOT DRIVERS who don't know how to shift to Neutral once underway.

xyzz, I would assume that the Tundra frame is rusting because of the same problem they had with 1996-2002 Tacoma trucks, Toyota cut corners when they blended the metal for the frames (maybe the whole truck?) , and in doing that the trucks would rust, You would like to think that Toyota would learn from there mistakes, obviously Toyota is more concerned about making money now and let the consumer just buy a new truck in a few years, they would be to proud to admit that there is anything wrong with there Toyota truck after all there bragging about toyota quality... lol

well as i recall, toyota offered to buy back the unfixable rusted out tacomas. they shoulda learned this was NOT a way to boost profits.

from what i read, the rusting trucks were because the frame suppliers did not properly rust proof them. that was likely a far bigger (if not THE major) factor.

toyota has no control over subpar parts and components from suppliers. until AFTER the fact with failures down the road.