Sales and quality are two disciplines?
Text/Shanshan Xu
With nearly 600,000 vehicles recalled in the U.S. and Chinese markets, Toyota's quality myth is unlikely to be sustainable.
According to the information released by the State Administration for Market Regulation, Toyota's joint ventures in China recently announced the recall of some domestic and imported vehicles. The models involved include More than ten models such as Wilanda High Performance Edition, the new fourth-generation Highlander, Xena, Wesa Dual Engine, Crown Lufang, Lingfang, Lexus NX350h and NX400h+. A total of 138899 vehicles were recalled in the domestic market.
Earlier, Toyota announced in the North American market that it would recall nearly 460,000 vehicles in mid-June, giving reasons consistent with the reasons for the recall in the Chinese market: there was a problem with the internal procedures of vsC (Body Stability Control System) in some vehicles, so that it could not be restored to the default open state when the vehicle was restarted.
Although Toyota did not disclose whether the company received an accident report related to this defect, it can be simply speculated based on the role of VSC that when the defective vehicle brakes or makes an emergency turn, it is very likely that there will be slippage. It is conceivable that its risk factor may make the relevant car owners afraid.
In fact, this is not Toyota's first recall in 2022.
As early as January 27 this year, GAC Toyota and Tianjin FAW Toyota announced the recall of 161614 Leiling and 162301 Corolla; on March 18, Tianjin FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota again announced the recall of a total of 23,502 Yize and C-HR vehicles. The first recall was due to manufacturing problems with the engine ignition coil, and the second recall was due to a problem with the optical axis adjustment of the millimeter wave radar sensor. This is Toyota's third recall this year.
Japanese cars that once went out of the circle with quality were caught in a double cycle of quality defects and unlimited recalls. Will Toyota in Akio's time repeat the old path of the Watanabe era?
Quality crisis alerts
From public information, it can be found that Toyota has launched several recalls in recent years, all of which involve quality defects. According to the 2021 U.S. New Vehicle Quality Study (IQS) report released by J.D. Power, Toyota ranked 13th in the previous year, slightly above the industry average.
Last year, Toyota ranked well behind the industry average, and this year the situation has improved. Compared with its luxury brand Lexus, the overall quality problems of Toyota models are still more. Through this list, we can also see that in the comprehensive ranking of new car quality in the North American market, Toyota is inferior to Japanese cars such as Mitsubishi and Nissan, and even lags behind Hyundai and Kia.
Interestingly, in the ranking of mainstream car brands in the Chinese market, Toyota ranks relatively high, and Guangqi Honda ranks first in the quality of new cars in the mainstream car market. The difference in ranking between the two markets is partly related to factors such as consumer preferences, brand positioning, and target markets, but it does not prevent the proof that Toyota's quality is indeed on the slippery slope.
In the era when Watanabe Led Toyota, Toyota attacked the global market at the expense of product quality, playing a brand prestige, but also laying an unstable country. It wasn't until Akio Toyoda became the helmsman of Toyota in 2009 that the world's largest car company was able to sit firmly on the throne of "selling crown".
However, in recent years, Toyota has frequently reported quality problems, such as "machine throttle" and "throttle" and other incidents, and market doubts have followed. Some industry insiders pointed out that Toyota's continuous large-scale recalls are related to its generalized parts strategy and bundled management model. Some experts pointed out that toyota's decline in quality is directly related to its rapid expansion of production and neglect of scientific management.
Although Toyota did not give the outside world a specific statement, if the recall continues, it is frankly difficult not to have an impact on its reputation and even future sales. After all, no one can't worry about whether a vehicle that is always recalled will be dangerous on the road.
Recall or not recall
In addition to Toyota, domestic car recalls are actually not uncommon. According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, a total of 232 car recalls were carried out in China last year, involving 8.736 million vehicles. Affected by the State Administration of Market Regulation's defect investigation, there were 54 recalls, involving 2.561 million vehicles, accounting for 29.3% of the total number of recalls in the whole year.
In the first four months of this year alone, domestic passenger cars announced a total of 24 recalls, including 3 independent car brands, 19 joint venture brands, and 2 Teslas. To some extent, the car company's filing of the recall represents a positive attitude to solve the problem. As the owner of the car, you have the right to know about the defects of the vehicle.
From another point of view, whether the frequent recalls of car companies are due to a good attitude, or because the production and manufacturing are indeed so-so. Taking Tesla as an example, on December 31 last year, it filed a recall of domestic electric vehicles, and this year announced the recall twice, both because some vehicles may have safety hazards.
Unlike Toyota, the market seems to be more tolerant of Tesla's multiple recalls, which may be closely related to the latter's OTA recall. Through the remote upgrade of the car (OTA) for the vehicle within the scope of the recall software upgrade and optimization, consumers do not need to go to the store to complete the recall, greatly saving time and cost, for the car company, but also eliminate the high recall cost.
Compared with joint ventures and foreign-funded car companies, the number of domestic independent brand recalls is small, but it cannot be fully explained that the quality of independent brand vehicles is higher, and independent brands still need to be polished. As for Toyota, the recall of nearly 600,000 cars in the two major markets in China and the United States not only has to bear the risk of consumer loss, but also has to pay a lot of money, which can be said to have lost his wife and folded his troops.
Perhaps, Toyota should really learn from Tesla.