Toyota has just started running its first TV ad in the wake of its disastrous recall, unintended acceleration problem and growing brand and reputation crisis. The ad is fine, if a bit bland.
As I have been saying for the past two weeks, Toyota needs to ratchet up its emotional quotient in everything it does relative [...]

Read the Full Post

Could it get any worse for Toyota? (The short answer is, yes, but more on that later.) Yesterday it was reported that the US government authorities are now investigating whether or not the Toyota jewel in the crown, the Prius hybrid, might have to be recalled for faulty brakes.
As they say, when it rains it’s [...]

Read the Full Post

Sorry to pile on Toyota, but the news seems to be going from bad to worse. The lead story in today’s Wall Street Journal tells the tale. It seems the US government is getting even more serious and aggressive about its response to the crisis and is pushing Toyota hard on its "fix" for the [...]

Read the Full Post

A Wall Street Journal story reported today that the Obama Administration is threatening to get tough with Toyota in the wake of the automaker’s slow reaction to the unintended acceleration problem and the resulting global recall of millions of affected Toyota vehicles.
Of course, this is a bit of an about face for the Administration. According [...]

Read the Full Post

Toyota’s US president and COO James Lentz finally went on the Today Show this morning to try to quell the growing concern and outright fear over Toyota’s massive vehicle recall.
As pretty much everyone knows by now, the mounting crisis grew out of Toyota’s problem with sticky accelerators that could cause, and have already caused, SUA [...]

Read the Full Post