Toyota’s mistakes and the real lesson

Until recently, Toyota was the glorious example of how to build a brand. The company redefined success while it learned, perfected its product and slowly but steadily grew share against the US car manufacturing giants since their first and humble launch of the not so successful Toyopet in the US in 1958. Since than Toyota has become one of the largest and most successful car manufacturer with a shiny and spotless reputation, quality and brand.

And then disaster struck, as one faulty car after the other hit the media headlines. They now face an unprecedented recall of millions of cars.
Will this be the end of Toyota? Certainly not. The brand is still upheld by decades’ worth of strong reputation. Damage has been caused of course, but what’s the real lesson?

Quality over quantity – in the race to the top Toyota has started compromising and cutting corners. Now they are paying the price.
Have a crisis plan – can you believe that a car giant like Toyota, a global company didn’t have one? Well they didn’t. People want the company take responsibility and show remorse.
Act on your crisis plan – when things go wrong, take control of the problem and offer a solution.
Face up to it – we all make mistakes. Admit to it, fix what you can and don’t make the same mistake again. Toyota was in denial for not days or weeks, but months and even years.

Toyota failed on all of these accounts and more.
.