The Toyota Camry continues to be the most popular midsize car sold in the United States. It has long been known for its quality, reliability and resale value. The Camry made its US debut over 20 years ago and has earned a reputation for great build quality and long-term durability. The Toyota Camry continues to be the benchmark by which its competitors are judged.
I test drove the Camry SE V6 sedan ($25,840) which is the easiest model to distinguish, and the sportiest of all the models. The SE gets a spoiler on the trunk lid to boost aerodynamics and a full body kit emphasizes the sport model’s lower ride height. The Camry SE gets a 268-horspower 3.5-liter V6 engine and a six-speed automatic with manual shift feature. The SE adds a firmer, lowered suspension, unique interior trim, fog lights and P215/55R17 tires on 17-inch aluminum alloy wheels.
Options on the SE I tested included auto-dimming rearview mirror ($275), leather package with heated front seats ($1,680), power moonroof, rear spoiler ($1,090), navigation with integrated back-up camera, JBL sound, and Bluetooth wireless (2,820), Smart key system with push button start ($450), and upgraded 18” TRD 10 spoke sport wheels and tires ($2,100). Automatic up/down windows on all four doors are standard across the line.
Toyota designed the suspension on the SE to be more aerodynamic. Engineers focused on making the underbody as flat as possible to smooth airflow under the car and reduce noise. They also tuned the flow to balance downforce, or the aerodynamic force that presses the car to the pavement as speed increases, nearly equally over the front and rear tires. The SE is fun and entertaining to drive. Steering is precise and cornering is solid and stable, with little body lean. Brake pedal travel felt soft and long when comparing it to true sports sedans.
The 3.5 liter V6 in the SE is a perfect fit because there is no shortage of power here. The 268-hp engine easily gets up to its programmed limit at 6500 rpm, and it has smooth power throughout. It pulls without stumbling from 1000 rpm in any gear, and the driver won’t feel as if he or she is waiting for the transmission to find the right gear so the car can get going. The V6 will feel familiar to longtime Camry owners, just a little tighter, smoother, and more powerful than older models. Fuel mileage on the 3.5 liter V6 is an EPA estimated 19/28 city/highway using regular gasoline.
The Camry SE V6 is a car in which the driver will definitely want to use the sequential manual shift feature on Toyota’s six-speed automatic. In manual mode, the transmission will hold the chosen gear without shifting up, and it will downshift immediately with a touch of the lever. The shifts are smooth and quick and reassuringly certain. All 2010 Camry models come standard with Vehicle Stability Control with traction control.
Other models range from the well-equipped base Camry to the near-luxury Camry XLE. In between are the popular LE, a modest step up from the base and also available with the V6. All Camry models offer good EPA mileage ratings and low emissions in their respective categories. The Camry Hybrid offers the best fuel economy, featuring a hybrid gasoline/electric powertrain with an efficient continuously variable transmission. The Hybrid is a good performer and one of the most fuel-efficient mid-size vehicles available.
Inside, the Camry SE is a roomy sedan, with comfortable seats front and rear, though the seat bottoms are short on thigh support for taller occupants. Rear-seat passengers have enough room to be comfortable on a long trip. The cabin is trimmed with a brushed metallic finish in the SE. The leather upgrade isn’t quite kid glove, but it feels expensive. Gauges in the SE, which are black on white with sharp blue backlighting, avoid this eye-straining fade. They’re part of this sporty model’s unique interior treatment, which features dark charcoal and a leather-wrapped, three-spoke steering wheel.
The Toyota Camry does just about everything well, and nothing badly, and it delivers comfortable, reliable transportation for up to five. There’s a model for nearly every taste and budget and all are reasonably economical to operate. That’s why the Camry continues to be the most popular sedan in America.
Sometimes when I talk to a prospective client they tell me: “Media Training? I’m sorry; I don’t have the budget for that.” Well, if Toyota’s president, Mr. Akio Toyoda, had been trained by Media Training experts a year ago, his company would have saved itself hundreds of millions of dollars. For now, the crisis has cost Toyota two billion dollars and the losses continue to pile on.
The effect of lying to the press is one of the basic concepts taught by Media Training experts. You can say that you are not sure about something, that you’re trying to find out the cause of a problem or that, simply, you don’t know the answer. However, if you lie and the media finds out about it, it will hone in on you until it succeeds in destroying your reputation. And, in general, sooner or later, the truth always comes out.
Toyota’s cars have mechanical or electrical problems that, with or without Media Training, would have created huge headaches to the company. However, the overwhelming criticism of the Japanese company arose in the United States when the media started to investigate and discovered that Toyota had been less than candid regarding the problem. At that time, the press aimed its guns at Toyota and started to use its heavy artillery against it. The damage to Toyota’s reputation could even bring about the resignation of Toyota’s president. The grandson of Toyota’s founder, who has been on the job for little over a year and who assumed his position full of plans to modernize his company.
When Mr. Toyoda testified before the US Congress it was clear that, this time, finally, he had been advised and trained by first-class Media Training experts. He displayed sorrow, accepted responsibility, immediately apologized and expressed his regret over any accident caused by his cars. This ensured that the next day the story about his testimony was buried on page 16 of The Washington Post. Had he not been well-prepared and trained and continued to deny the problem, the story would have been front page news and the press would have continued its relentless pursuit, damaging even further Toyota’s image. And now, many Americans wonder: is it safe to drive my Toyota? A model industry in the world which, had doubled its production in just a few years, was now between a rock and a hard place. They paid a very high price for their lack of understanding of how the media works. As they say, penny-wise, pound-foolish. Or they never understood the value of Media Training.
Media Training has a huge strategic value for any company, organization or government entity. Not only because sooner or later it will have to deal with a crisis and face the media, but because, during day-to-day activities, it offers effective guidelines for how to lift your public profile and reputation credibly and for free.
Many public political and business leaders have never had Media Training. The examples of the price to be paid for not understanding the importance of this training are countless and wouldn’t fit on my computer’s hard drive.
The best known ones are the most anecdotal, such as, for example, when there’s a microphone in the vicinity and assuming that it’s not on.
During the 2003 budget negotiations in Spain, an open microphone broadcast the comments by the economic advisor for the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party), Jordi Sevilla, when he told his boss, Jos Luis Rodrguez Zapatero: “You still seem unsure of yourself. You’ve made a couple of errors, but it’s no big deal,” and that in “a couple of days” the PSOE’s then General Secretary would be able to learn “what he needed to know” about the economy. Today, with Spain mired in an a serious economic crisis, the opposition frequently brings this incident up, telling him that he should have devoted more than two days to the economic situation.
On October 11, 2008, on the eve of Spain’s National Holiday, an open mike betrayed the comments of the chair of the PP (Popular Party), Mariano Rajoy, during a party function: his complaint about “what a pain in the butt” it would be to attend the next day’s military parade. An ill-advised comment in light of the fact that Spanish troops are risking their lives in Afghanistan.
Recently, the president of the Madrid Regional Government, conservative Esperanza Aguirre, rejoiced when she was able to secure a seat on Caja Madrid’s board for a member of Izquierda Unida (United Left), snatching it from that “son of a bitch.” She was referring to Fernando Serrano, a member of her own party, the PP, who is an ally of her political opponent, Alberto Ruiz Gallardn, also a member of the PP. Her words were also broadcast by an open mike. The incident obviously created tension within the party.
In March 2008, Spanish Prime Minister Jos Luis Rodrguez Zapatero, stated after an interview with reporter Iaki Gabilondo, and unaware of the microphone still being on, that “it’s convenient for us when there is tension,” referring to the upcoming elections. Only minutes before, during the actual interview, he was urging dialogue to prevent tension.
Former Uruguayan president Tabar Vzquez, thinking that the cameras were not rolling after an interview with Bloomberg Television, said “all Argentineans are a bunch of crooks, from the first one to the last one.” The comments created a diplomatic crisis and Vzquez had to personally go to Buenos Aires to apologize.
This is something that affects all political parties.
However, the open mike examples, even though they create serious problems, are really just anecdotal because the only thing that needs to be done to prevent them is to remember that the microphone is always on.
Media Training is much more complex than that. It’s being able to effectively communicate your message and this requires preparation and practice. And, during times of crisis like these, it becomes even more important because communicating what’s going on and why it’s important to ensure stability.
I am sure that Toyota’s president, Mr. Akio Toyoda, now understands perfectly the value of Media Training and would never say: “Media Training? I’m sorry; we don’t have the budget for that.”
Call it the Battle of the Terrible T’s or How to Bungle Your Brand. However you bill it, the PR question of the moment is who handled things worse – Toyota or Tiger?
While one is a car and the other a golfer, there are painful parallels.
Both brands were riding very high before the fall. And as we all know, the higher they fly…
Almost incredibly, they both followed the same ill-advised but well-worn path in how they confronted their falls from grace. There appears to be only two possible explanations:
the world’s leading car company and its biggest sports celebrity got and took the same incredibly bad crisis communication advice
they decided independently on an approach guaranteed to take their bad situations and make them worse
Admit the problem, apologize, focus on the fix and move on. Little kids learn this stuff the first time they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Instead, what we got was delay, deny, downplay, and the drip, drip, drip of another defect, another affair. The monologue writers on the late-night talk shows had such an abundance of material they didn’t know where to start.
What’s next?
Will Toyota retain/recover the industry-leading brand loyalty that was built on a reputation for excellence? Will Tiger retain/recover the devotion of fans who placed him on a pedestal of human perfection?
In the courtroom of public opinion, the jury is still out. And much rides on there being no repeat performances. But if I had to bet today on the final outcome, I’d say both still have a reasonable shot at redemption.
I would, however, give a slight edge to Tiger in the image rehabilitation race. If statistics and history are to be believed, more people can secretly identify with – and possibly forgive – a recovering cheater than a corporation guilty of dangerous product defaults.
What’s your opinion? Who gets your vote for the PR Bungler Award – Tiger or Toyota? Post a vote and/or comment.
Remember, you’re not voting on the offense but on the handling of the aftermath. Unlike political elections, this is a topic you are likely to get to vote on more than once this year.
It’s the car that started it all. Back in 1997, Toyota introduced the original Prius, which was the first ever mass-produced hybrid-electric vehicle. When Toyota introduced the first Prius ago, it was venturing into uncharted territories. The journey into the unknown was rewarded with Toyota’s supremacy in hybrid vehicles today, as well as bragging rights to the best-selling gas-electric hybrid vehicle in the world.
Not only did the Prius help to prove that hybrid gas-electric powertrains can be feasible, reliable and desirable, the car has become the object of cultlike affection and a social statement. In the decade since the first Prius was introduced in the United States, more than 1.2 million have been sold worldwide. According to Toyota, 8 out of 10 Prius owners say they would buy another.
In keeping with its plans to increase hybrid sales to one million a year in the next few years (from 241,405 in 2008), Toyota is introducing a third-generation Prius in May. Will the new version of this iconic vehicle sustain the respect of its admirers? Will making the 2010 Prius slightly bigger and slightly faster add to the appeal, or will the upsizing backfire?
Toyota says the new car completed the government‘s test cycle with an economy rating of 51 m.p.g. in city driving and 48 m.p.g. on the highway. Combined mileage came out at an industry-leading 50 m.p.g. In much of the nation these days, you can fill the Prius’s 11.9-gallon tank for less than $20.
The new Prius offers three alternative driving modes. EV-Drive Mode allows driving on battery power alone at low speeds for about a mile, if conditions permit. There is also a Power Mode, which increases sensitivity to throttle input for a sportier feel, and an Eco Mode, which helps the driver achieve the best possible mileage.
Other energy-saving features include available LED low beams and taillights, a more efficient air conditioning system, and a unique ventilation fan that promises to reduce the need for air conditioning in the first place.
The air circulator — which is powered by solar panels — prevents the interior air temperature from rising while the vehicle is parked. This, in turn, makes cool-down time shorter when the driver returns to the vehicle.
The air-conditioning system is also capable of running with the engine off, so the driver can adjust the interior temperature for comfort before getting in the car — an industry first.
Toyota says it listened to customer feedback, and sharpened handling, reduced road noise, increased interior volume, and improved acceleration. The zero to 60 mph sprint takes 9.8 seconds now — an improvement of over one second. Disc brakes are now used on all four corners, replacing the front disc/rear drum brakes in the current model.
Interior space has increased considerably, both by making the car larger and making the cabin design more efficient. The car is 0.4 inches longer and 2.2 inches wider. The battery cooling unit also takes up less space, providing more room for passengers. Rear legroom is further improved thanks to thinner front seats.
Dynamic Radar Cruise Control system is now an available option. The system also enables Lane Keep Assist, which helps the driver stay safely within the lane, and the Pre-Collision System, which retracts seatbelts and applies the brakes in certain conditions when a crash is unavoidable.
The next-generation Intelligent Parking Assist features simplified settings to help guide the car into parking spaces. A backup monitor, which provides a view of rear obstacles when reverse is engaged, is available with an optional voice-activated navigation system. Safety Connect, Toyota first safety and security service, is also available.
for more complete overview of the Prius 2010 click here
The president of Japanese automaker Toyota has appeared before US politicians in Washington to answer questions and apologise for the recall of millions of cars deemed unsafe.
“I’m deeply sorry for any accident that Toyota drivers have experienced,” Akio Toyoda told US congress members on Wednesday.
The grandson of the company’s founder is expected to face tough questions at the House of Representatives oversight committee hearing over the company’s handling of customer safety concerns and its series of recalls over potentially faulty accelerators and braking systems.
Toyota has recalled around 8.5 million vehicles worldwide and admits the company’s safety standards have slipped.
“Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace of which we have grown may have been too quick,” Toyoda said, reiterating a statement the company released on Tuesday.
Toyota
Founded in 1937, based in Toyota City, Japan
Employs approximately 320,000 people worldwide, with manufacturing or assembly plants in 27 countries
Overtook GM in 2008 to become world’s number one selling carmaker
Sold 7.8 million vehicles worldwide in 2009, including the Prius, the first commercial, mass-produced hybrid car
Reported a record annual loss of $4.4bn in May, due to impact of global financial crisis
“I would like to point out here that Toyota’s priority has traditionally been the following: first - safety, second – quality, third - volume. These priorities became confused.”
He offered his “personal committment” to restore customers’ trust in the company by working “vigorously and unceasingly” to correct problems with the recalled cars.
Al Jazeera’s John Terrett, reporting from Washington, said Toyoda’s decision to appear before congress was highly unusual, as the hearings are usually held for US politicians or captains of industry based in the country.
“It is quite extraordinary and a moment of history to see the head of a Japanese corporation coming all the way from Tokyo … to be grilled by politicians of another country’s political system about the faults that his company allegedly has,” he said.
His apology came after the head of Toyota’s US operations said he could not guarantee that fixes being applied to millions of cars would completely eliminate all potential problems.
Speaking in Washington before a separate congressional panel on Tuesday, Jim Lentz said about 70 per cent of complaints related to unintended acceleration remained unexplained.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided the offices of three of Toyota’s suppliers in Michigan. What has Toyota gotten themselves into this time?
Actually, Toyota most likely has nothing to do with the reasons for these raids. The companies raided were Yazaki North America, Denso International and Tokai Rika. Denso is a provider of accelerators, although none of the accelerators were affected by Toyota’s recalls. Denso spokesperson Bridgette Gollinger claimed “this is not related to the Toyota Recall investigation.” An unspecified source from Denso said that the investigation was based on allegations of violations of antitrust laws.
Interestingly, this follows a recent investigation of Toyota by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. They requested that Toyota grant them certain documents “including those related to unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles and the company’s disclosure policies and practices.” Toyota has agreed to comply with this request and are preparing the documents.
Jalopnik believes that this investigation may have to do with a larger investigation related to electronics manufacturers. They are being charged with fixing prices charged to automakers as part of a cartel. So Toyota may actually be the victim in this case. Either way, this isn’t very good press for them.
Hours after the raids, Toyota released a statement in which they said the raids have to do with the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division investigating automotive electronics suppliers, but they have not asked Toyota for any information. So it looks like this really does have to do with the electronics manufacturer investigation Jalopnik mentioned, as well as the antitrust allegations a Denso representative mentioned. We’ll keep you updated on any developments.
Press Release:
Toyota Statement on Grand Jury Subpoena and SEC Request
On February 8, 2010 (Japan time), a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York Issued a subpoena that requested Toyota and its subsidiaries to produce certain documents related to unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles and the braking system of the Prius.
On February 19, 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation (“TMC”) and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (“TMS”), received a voluntary request and a subpoena, respectively, from the Los Angeles office of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking production of certain documents including those related to unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles and the company’s disclosure policies and practices.
TMC and TMS intend to cooperate with the investigations and are currently preparing their responses.
Press Release (2):
Toyota Statement Regarding Supplier Investigations
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is conducting an investigation of certain automotive electronic suppliers. Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA) has not been asked for information in connection with the investigation, but will cooperate if asked.
Source: Inside Line, Jalopnik and Toyota
(NaturalNews) Even as Toyota now finds itself the target of an increasingly hyped-up inquisition about “public safety,” skeptical consumers are asking the commonsense question: If public safety is so important, then why isn’t Congress asking about the dangers of Big Pharma’s deadly drugs?
Toyota’s problems with throttle controls and brakes haven’t actually killed anyone as far as we know. Even if deaths have occurred, their number would be extremely small compared to the number of deaths caused by Big Pharma’s products. FDA-approved pharmaceuticals kill nearly 270 people each day in the United States alone, and that’s according to conservative calculations published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That’s equivalent to a jumbo jet airliner falling out of the sky and crashing in a giant ball of flame every single day in the U.S.
If you’re concerned about public safety in the United States, there’s no industry that’s more dangerous than the pharmaceutical industry. All the automobile manufacturers combined can’t even begin to approach the body bag count produced by Big Pharma. So why is the U.S. Congress and mainstream media all of a sudden so gung-ho to accuse Toyota of compromising public safety while ignoring the far greater threat posed by Big Pharma? Because Toyota is an easy, convenient target that can distract people from the far worse dangers that no one dares speak of. As long as Americans can be distracted into focusing their fear and anger on Toyota, Big Pharma keeps on committing its crimes without being called to task.
And remember: Toyota is a foreign company while the giants of Big Pharma are American companies. Congress is quick to defend U.S. companies like General Motors and Merck, even if those companies pose a very real danger to public safety.
Just yesterday, NaturalNews.com published a story about the deliberate cover-up of deaths caused by Avandia, a top diabetes drug made by GlaxoSmithKline. According to FDA scientists, this drug is linked to 83,000 heart attacks. The company knew about this increased risk — and so did the FDA! Yet both the FDA and GSK conspired to hide this information from the public, says the U.S. Senate committee report (http://www.naturalnews.com/028233_G…).
As a result of this effort to deliberately mislead the public over the lack of safety for its drug, Avandia remained “FDA approved” and now causes an estimated 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure every month in the USA alone.
That’s the body count from just one medication. Add up the fatalities from all the other thousands of medications sold by the drug industry and you start to get the picture of just how large this threat to public health really is. People are dying every day in America due to dangerous prescription medications that the FDA knew were dangerous years ago!
Why medications are far more dangerous than defective vehicles
For Toyota to even come close to this level of dangerous deception, the company would have to deliberately build high-explosive bombs into its cars that were randomly set off when drivers tapped the brakes.
If 200 cars a day exploded into huge balls of flame on America’s roads, then Toyota might start to approach the level of fatalities caused by Big Pharma’s defective products. Until that happens, this whole attempt to attack Toyota over its relatively rare problems with throttle control is just a political witch hunt designed to distract people from the much larger threat to public safety posed by American companies like Merck.
Fraud and corruption
The real difference between Toyota and Big Pharma is that Toyota is trying to build safe cars while Big Pharma has no intention to do anything other than sell more drugs no matter how dangerous they are. In fact, Big Pharma goes out of its way to actually falsify evidence that attempts to turn dangerous chemicals into “scientifically proven safe drugs.” It even invents fake diseases and then markets those to the public (“disease mongering”) in order to sell more drugs that people don’t even need!
So where’s the outrage against the failed consumer safety practices of Big Pharma? Senators Grassley and Baucus seem to be the only U.S. Senators who are doing anything to go after the Big Pharma / FDA conspiracy that kills so many Americans. On the House side, Congressman Ron Paul gets it, too, but few of his colleagues dare take any action against the all-powerful pharmaceutical industry.
So while Big Pharma’s unsafe consumer products are killing 270 people a day — which is far more Americans than are dying from war in the Middle East — Congress stirs up a hornet’s nest of safety accusations against Toyota, a company whose unintentional errors have killed no one… and a company that has taken responsibility for fixing those errors free of charge.
When was the last time a drug company offered to pay to fix the damage caused by its harmful drugs? It wasn’t too long ago, you may recall, that the drug industry was pressuring the U.S. Supreme Court to grant complete immunity against all liability from all its products! How’s that for ducking responsibility? Even right now, all vaccines are exempted from consumer claims of damage, thanks to laws passed by Congress that protect the vaccine industry.
So while Toyota is stepping up to the plate to take responsibility for fixing its problems, the drug industry repeatedly tries to avoid any responsibility for all the pain, suffering and death it has unleashed upon the medication-taking public. In fact, getting Big Pharma to compensate even a single dollar to the damage it has caused patients normally requires a class action lawsuit. While Toyota openly offers to recall and repair all vehicles at its own cost, the drug companies actively fight any such effort with an army of lawyers!
Sure, Toyota made some engineering or manufacturing mistakes. But in Toyota’s case, that’s a rare departure from its longstanding core philosophy of quality and safety. For Big Pharma, ducking responsibility and selling dangerous products is the status quo — it’s the way the drug industry does business every single day: Bribing researchers, falsifying data, overbilling state Medicaid programs, bilking consumers with monopoly pricing, burying negative studies that it doesn’t want the public to see, paying doctors “consulting fees” to prescribe more of its name-brand drugs, and so on. This is business as usual in the pharmaceutical industry.
Can you imagine the outcry against Toyota if it were discovered the company was bribing the safety testing companies or falsifying safety testing data? The public outcry would dominate the headlines for weeks! Yet when Big Pharma does it, you don’t hear a word. It’s just business as usual in the criminal pharmaceutical industry, where nobody even expects these companies to act with integrity anymore.
But I say to the press and the U.S. Congress if you’re really concerned with consumer safety, shift your attention to Big Pharma. That’s where the real crimes are taking place. That’s where American consumers are being killed by defective products at a rate that makes Toyota’s safety lapses seem downright inconsequential by comparison.
NKorea
US, SKorea envoys visit China amid NKorea hopes [AP]
South Africa says intercepted N.Korea arms shipment [Reuters]
China stresses friendly ties with DPRK as its “consistent policy” [Xinhua]
China supports U.S.- DPRK contact: spokesman [Xinhua]
N.K. leader anxious over pending state matters: Seoul spy chief [Yonhap]
China
China tightens internet controls [BBC]
From 02.22 Chinese vocational school bored of NYT Google hacking reports [Xinhua]
China urges U.S.to work for improvement of relations [Xinhua]
Q+A-Where does China stand on Iran sanctions? [Reuters]
Iran
Iran says any fuel swap must be on its territory [Reuters] and APNewsBreak: Iran nuclear offer falls short [AP]
Iran captures Sunni militant group leader [AP]
Iraq
U.S. plans for possible delay in Iraq withdrawal [WaPo]
Other Middle East
More British, Irish passports used in Dubai killing [Reuters]
Egypt police kill migrant at Israel border [Reuters]
From 02.22 Al Qaeda video rails against Turkey [CNN]
AfPak
U.S. Afghan death toll hits 1,000 as blast kills 7 civilians [Reuters]
NATO commander makes televised apology to Afghans [AP]
Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Kabir ’seized in Pakistan’ [BBC]
Europe
Denmark’s prime minister shuffles government [AP]
Minister Phil Woolas launches personal attack on Christine Pratt [Times UK]
Republican terrorists blamed for detonating car bomb near border [Times UK]
Clinton Calls for Closer NATO-Russian Cooperation [Bloomberg]
Americas
Falklands: full support for Argentina from Latinamerican and Caribbean leaders [MercoPress]
From 02.22 Homeless Haitians: aid halted to force them out [AP]
Domestic
Job Bill Clears Hurdle in U.S. Senate With Republican Support [Bloomberg]
Obama Health Plan May Provide Roadmap for Passage by Democrats [Bloomberg]
Toyota Probe Fueled by Politics as Well as Safety, Critics Say [Bloomberg] and Lawmakers’ Ties to Toyota Questioned at Start of Inquiries [NYT]
JAKARTA, 23 Februari 2010 - PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) hanya butuh waktu satu pekan untuk memperbaiki semua Toyota Prius yang masuk dalam daftar perbaikan di Indonesia. “Semua perbaikan sudah selesai dalam minggu kemarin,” kata Johnny Darmawan Presiden Direktur PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) kepada wartawan di Jakarta, Selasa (23/2) siang.
Cepatnya pelaksanaan perbaikan ini lantaran di Indonesia memang hanya ada 13 unit Toyota Prius Generasi ke-3 yang ada di tangan konsumen. Johnny mengatakan pihaknya mendatangani para pemilik di lokasinya masing-masing.
Sebagaimana diketahui Toyota Motor Corp, melakukan recall terhadap Prius menyusul laporan tidak bekerja dengan sempurnanya sistem ABS pada mobil hijau Toyota tersebut. Indonesia sendiri masuk dalam program karena sudah menjual Prius sejak tahun lalu.
Johnny perbaikan hanya membutuhkan waktu 40 menit untuk meng-upgrade program perangkat lunak (software) aktuator Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) dan Engine Control Unit (ECU) Toyota Prius. Perbaruan sistem perangkat lunak ini dilakukan di beberapa kota yaitu Jakarta, Makassar, Surabaya, dan Malang.
“Sejak tanggal 17 Februari 2010 kemarin dilaporkan bahwa semua unit Toyota Prius generasi ke-3 yang dipasarkan oleh TAM di Indonesia telah selesai melewati perbaruan sistem perangkat lunak yang dilakukan Toyota di seluruh dunia,” kata Johnny.
“Hal ini sudah menjadi tanggung jawab kami sebagai produsen untuk dapat melakukannya dengan cepat agar dapat memberikan yang terbaik bagi para pelanggan,” tambah Presiden Direktur PT TAM tersebut.
Sementara itu, Dady Hendriadi, Division Head Technical Service Division PT TAM, mengatakan sejauh ini hanya pemilik Prius yang langsung membeli dari TAM yang diperbaiki. Sedangkan mereka yang membeli dari Importir Umum (IU) belum ada yang melapor. “Kami belum menerima laporan dari dealer soal ini,” katanya.
Saat ini di Indonesia baru 13 unit Toyota Prius Generasi ke-3 yang berada di tangan konsumen. Tapi TAM menyebutkan sudah ada pesanan 4 unit lain mobil hijau yang dibanderol per 5 Januari kemarin di angka Rp 589 juta on the road tersebut.
I love love love media blitzes and scandals involving major celebrities and major corporations. I am currently in a grad level communication course called, “Crisis Communication”. How fitting of a time to take this course when we have the largest auto-manufacture recall in decades unraveling day by day?
Right now, as you could imagine, I am in my glory a celebrity scandal AND a huge crisis communication case…. TIGER VERSUS TOYOTA.
ROUND ONE: Accountability
TIGER: He is 100% responsible for his current situation. He cheated not once, not twice, hey not even TEN times while married with children. He is now saying he takes “full accountability” so I will give him a +1 on this one… He also doggedly explains that he felt he was ‘above the law’ and invincible. He wins this round for taking full responsibility and being honest +1
TOYOTA: Toyota, while beginning more recalls and public appearances has yet to take full responsibility. In addition, it took begging and pleading by high level executives to have Toyoda decide to come and speak before a court in the United States. Until they pull “a Tiger” and take responsibility for the damages they’ve so far inflicted, they lose this round.
ROUND TWO: The Next Steps
TIGER: He is not rushing back into golf — that’s good for him bad for his sponsors, fans, and endorsers. I think at this point in time it would be foolish to try and “let his golf do the talking”. He realized he needs to keep out of the limelight for the time being and stay in his therapy. I would say other than the mechanical speech he gave yesterday, his points about his “next steps” answered all lingering questions the media and his targeted publics had. +1
TOYOTA: They are crafting ways to fix the accelerator problem however as of now it is not a concrete solution. Yesterday when asked about the new system, Toyoda responds, “This should work”. Right. NEXT. In addition, more and more cars are now being recalled and brought into question such as the Prius, Lexus, and Corolla- until they figure out what THE HELL IS GOING ON they will not win a fight against Tiger, sorry.
Car Company Shipping Record Number of Brand Repair Kits
Toyota, still reeling from several product recalls over the last several weeks, has announced its latest repair effort. This one is designed to address that most intangible of problems, consumer fear. “We realize it is not important whether members of the Toyota family are safe or not, what is important is that they feel safe,” noted Ishuru Samaguchi, head engineer of Toyota’s brand safety division. “We believe we have come up with a correction for the problem that should insure a higher quotient of warm and fuzzy feelings going forward.” Toyota is releasing the upgrade in a barrage of TV, radio, print and internet adds over the next several weeks. “We have tested the repair extensively with a number of focus groups and have found that the majority of subjects report a greater sense of well-being and positive attitude upon viewing the upgrade,” Mr. Samaguchi added.
Federal investigators began looking into problems with the Toyota brand after receiving several 100 reports from consumers. “I’ve been getting a lot of negative comments about my Sienna and I’m not happy about it,” says longtime Toyota owner Steve Plenderhaff of Houston, Texas. “It’s really hurt my feelings and seriously damaged my self-esteem. I’ve always been a proud Toyota owner. I got my first box like Corolla when I was in high school back in the 70’s. I got my first DWI in that car. Would have been the first car I got to second base in if my buddies hadn’t shown up at the wrong time. Sheila Martin. That was her name. Boy she was something. Never go to go out with her again after that. Anyways, it’s getting pretty hard holding my head up these days, what with everybody making jokes and nasty comments about anything Toyota. I drive as little as I can. I sure hope they can fix the problem soon cause I’m getting low on groceries.”
Rep. Chandler offering his perspective on a recent fact finding visit to the Toyota plant in his district. "Don't give me excuses. Just fix the damn thing."
Not since the federal bailout of GM has there been such a large brand recall by an automaker. “The difference here is that they did it to themselves,” said GM spokesman Herman King. “We were making really great cars and then this financial thing happened and it all went to shit but it wasn’t our fault. We deserved help and all that bailout money. Toyota? Their just screwing up and need to be held accountable. They took a really great brand, not as great as ours mind you, and ran it into the ground. I say let ‘em burn.”
Toyota representatives appeared before a skeptical congressional committee to explain its plan designed to address the latest problems. “What the hell you going to do about it, that’s what I want to know,” queried Rep. Ben Chandler, D – Kentucky. “I got people screaming at me about this thing. And if my people ain’t happy, I’m not happy. Got it? I don’t want no excuses, you hear. I got an election coming up this year and I sure as hell don’t want you screwing up my chances for reelection. So you’re just going to have to sit there and listen to me act real angry for a while so my constituents think I’m doing something up here. And while were at it, where the hell is that campaign donation you promised me?”
Detroit, 18 Februari 2010 - Pihak berwenang Amerika Serikat segera melakukan pemeriksaan mendalam terhadap sedan Toyota Corolla menyusul permintaabn anggota Dewan terhadap Toyota Motor Corp, Rabu, agar seluruh kendaraan diperiksa tingkat keselamatannya sebelum ada gelombang penarikan.
Sejak 2009 dan 2010, Kantor Keselamatan Lalu Lintas Jalan Raya Nasional (NHTSA),telah menerima 150 keluhan masalah kemudi mobil keluaran Corolla. Hal itu dikatakan oleh pejabat pemerintah Amerika yang tak mau disebutkan namanya.
Untuk itu, Rabu kemarin, pihak-pihak yang tak mau disebutkan namanya menyatakan akan melalukan evaluasi terhadap mobil Corolla, sebuah kendaraan terpopuler di pasaran Amerika setelah Camry. NHTSA akan melakukan investigasi secara tertutup sebelum menyimpulkan kendaraan tersebut perlu ditarik atau tidak.
Namun demikian, pihak Toyota dan pejabat berwenang di bidang keselamatan Amerika akan bekerjasama memeriksa kembali tingkat keselamatan kendaraan sekaligus untuk menjawab keluhan para pemilik kendaraan Toyota.
Pekan depan Kongres akan melakukan dengar pendapat untuk membahas masalah isu keselamatan Toyota. Partai Demokrat dan Republik akan mengumpulkan informasi sebanyak mungkin dari publik sebelum Amerika mengeluarkan peraturan tentang keselamatan kendaraan Toyota.
“Publik Amerika telah kehilangan kepercayaan terhadap Toyota dan ingin meraih kembali kepercayaan itu,” ujar Joan Claybrook, mantan Kepala NHTSA.
There is talk in the news today of the success of Google’s brand; knocking Coca-Cola off the number 2 spot on the world’s most powerful brands list and nipping at the heels of American superstore giant Walmart. In the meantime, with recent events surrounding Japanese car giant Toyotas mass vehicle recall it is easy to see the importance of both building and maintaining a brand.
Although still on the power brand list, Toyota is predicted to take a massive hit from this incident and due to their failure to act quickly; their brand is bound to suffer. New companies can take some wisdom away from the errors of others by paying attention to moments like this. If you intend to start a company and work on your brand then you need to ensure you maintain the quality. Establish the principals of your company and its brand early on and maintain them. Deal with brand threatening incidents swiftly to maintain credibility. Customers and the public in general pin a great deal of importance to brand names and what they represent, a moment like this can make or break a company. Everyone knows that people are quick to remember the bad and forget the good, mud sticks as the saying goes. So make sure you start out as you mean to go on.
Forming a new company, it is important to create a logo and brand for your business from day one. Putting our professional graphics designers to use, means that you can have a quality logo and corporate identity set up for you from day one for a low cost. Remember, it’s important to ensure that you carry out a trade mark registration on your brand name, slogan and logo to ensure that they are protected from the start. This is one step you can take to ensure that other people cannot damage your brand. Then you simply have to work on building your brands reputation and maintaining its superiority in the marketplace.
For more information, helpful guides, free business tools and special offers register for FREE access to My Company Warehouse today.
Over the last month, Toyota has been in the center of fierce criticism for the lack communication provided by the company. In the media, Toyota’s crisis management was described as inadequate and belated, as well as ineffective in explaining the problem. The company’s current customers along with other people are becoming increasingly suspicious of Toyota’s ability to remedy all car defects and distrustful of its safety policies. Even after a dense stream of apologies, the company’s attempt to win back the brand’s reliability has yet proved fruitless.
How could a company with such powerful manufacturing techniques and strong confidence in the quality of its products turn into a vivid example of bad management and sudden crash of reputation? I believe that a large part of the problem lies neither in the lack of attention by Toyota nor in its inability to accept the blame on time. The crisis comes from the collision of Japanese culture with its Western counterpart and from their failure to engage in an open dialogue. There are several reasons for that.
First, when Japan was introduced Confucianism in the 6th century, the country adopted a philosophy with strict hierarchical relationships, a structure that was later impregnated in the corporate governance. With a closed system of rigidly defined interaction among the staff, companies do not welcome the spread of negative news to “save the face” of those on the top of the pyramid. This behavior makes it complicated for the management to react quickly, thus hurting the business overall.
Second, the reluctance to show on public during crises roots in the concept of haji, or shame. It is a society where people strive to accomplish a task impeccably to save themselves of a possibility to explain a problem if something goes wrong. The lack of communication skills coupled with psychological stress make it almost impossible for them to express themselves clearly, leaving an impression of unwillingness to take responsibility. As a result, when introduced to the international community, Japanese are faced with misunderstanding and censure.
Third, collective action and preservation of harmonious relationships is vital in Japanese culture and is explained through the concept of wa, or harmony. The group’s progress and mutual consent are considered more important than an individual’s success. This notion is also reflected in Toyota’s corporate ideology based on the identity of views and clearly demonstrated by its executive board composed of 29 Japanese men and 0 foreigners.
This three cultural features can be the reasons of the company’s late response to the crisis, unconvincing explanation of the problem, and ineffective communication overall. It can also help us understand why Toyota chose to show a “stark, serious chiron[the letters on the screen],” as described by FOX Business, to express their apology during the Super Bowl 2010. Many think that not showing a face in the commercial is a sign of not assigning the blame. I, on the contrary, believe that what they meant is that all employees are partly responsible for the crisis and the blame is shared by everyone.
This morning we were fortunate enough to be given a tour of Toyota UK’s main plant near Derby. It was fascinating to see where so many of the concepts and principles that have transformed our company over the last 2 years have come from.
Automation is visible everywhere in the plant. Robots are involved at almost every step of the process, improving efficiency and precision, and removing dangerous or repetitive tasks from human employees. We use automation to run our tests, and assess the condition of all our applications at any time.
Jidoka means “automation with a human touch”. The idea is that Toyota’s robots are smart enough to know when they’ve done something wrong and stop themselves at that point. This prevents a problem from progressing any further until it has been resolved. We use jidoka to signal when any of our applications have failed a unit test or integration test. At this point an alarm sounds and our status monitor shows us a red screen. This enables us to stop work and fix the problem.
Kanban, meaning “sign board”, is a system of representing tasks or orders using cards, which move around the production line as required. They’re a great way of keeping track of any particular piece of work within your value stream. Toyota invented kanban in order to identify problem areas and promote improvements. The cards are used widely throughout the plant, and we’ve taken the concept and applied it to our own value stream. Using kanban we can identify bottlenecks, and easily see who’s working on what, and where any piece of work is at any time, from the time it’s requested up until it has been deployed live.
Kaizen is the continuous improvement of processes through regularly reflecting on how each activity within the value stream can be improved. Currently Toyota use the whole of each Friday for kaizen, rewarding teams or members when they identify areas that can be improved. We hold regular retrospectives to assess good and bad aspects of our work, modifying our process as appropriate. We have also begun identifying areas of waste within our process, and focussing on a few at a time to find improvements.
We noticed that Toyota believe there’s no substitute for human testing. Despite the high levels of automation and automated testing througout the production line, human quality control checks are regularly made. In addition, the final stage of the production line involves thorough checks inside and out of every vehicle, before it is driven around a short figure-of-8 circuit. A sample of cars each day are taken around the plant’s 2.3km test track.
It was a shame that the Q&A session leader was not familiar with the term hansei, a word which has no direct English translation, but whose meaning is to acknowledge and take responsibility for one’s mistakes, and pledge improvement by evaluating the cause of the problem and finding ways to prevent it from recurring. This is a key difference between Japanese and Western business culture, and is clearly visible every time a Japanese CEO steps aside when there is a scandal at their company, whether they were involved or not. In the West we tend to favour CYA instead.
All in all it was a great experience. We’ve been chatting about it ever since we got back to the office. I think any company could learn a whole lot from Toyota. A visit to the plant is free, with a suggested £5 donation to charity.
I just got home from my hour-long commute — did a bell to bell today; that’s 8:45am to 9:00pm. Sold ZERO cars. A.K.A. I worked for twelve hours and I made ZERO dollars. Talked to eight or nine pieces of shit basically. One couple wanted to drive every car Toyota makes. We drove a Venza and argued over the price for twenty minutes despite the fact that even if we sold it at invoice price it was still out of her price range.
Ended that conversation on a positive note: “if we get any pre-owned Altimas in stock I’ll give you a call!” Nice white couple. Wife was a super-cute ethnically ambiguous white gal with a slim body, dog face and obnoxious, unnecessarily cozy winter hat. Husband was a super-nice Jewish lawyer who probably would’ve bought the car if his bitch wife had been elsewhere. I’ll pray for him. And their kid was a little fag. Probably named Gabe or Mason or Tyler or Asher. They probably should get a Venza to fit their fag life.
I’m not exagerrating when I say I had ten Chinese people sitting at my desk. First I met Dave and Lin. They told me they wanted a nice high-end Venza with leather and a backup camera for their pregnant friend Shelly who was on the way. Shelly comes in, followed by the grandparents and the aunt and uncle and before you can say yellow fever I have the entire Wang dynasty clammoring around my desk shouting orders for dumplings and stinking to high-heaven of nail polish and dry-cleaning solution.
Now the way Shelly presented herself, I could tell something was different. These people had money and they smelled like it. Nice North Face fleeces and Crocs, bubble goose-down jackets, courdouroys — the shit that a white real-estate appraiser or physician would wear on a lazy Sunday of FJ Cruiser shopping.
Shelly didn’t hang back or wait for a male or elder female family member talk. She took center stage and got right in my face, good posture, good English, and explained that they had some absurdly low price from this shithole dealership down the street – Box Auto.
She had an ugly face, and struck me as a very shrewd business woman, someone right at home at the helm of a Chinese steel corporation or child sex-slavery ring. So that was another bust, the deal they got down the street was a $3000 loser and my manager didn’t want to match it, so we sent the Wangs packing, all ten of them.
Then I got one pretty good lead, a respectible young white person who didn’t bust my fucking balls too much. We looked at a Sienna together, and good news he liked the 2010 more than the 2011 because in the ‘10 he can put in three child seats using the LATCH system instead of just the seat belt.
Unfortunately for my ass, he called the dealership five minutes before stopping in to ask if we had Siennas in stock, which automatically means I have to split my commission with the phone department, despite the fact that they did absolutely no fucking work.
We worked a deal, and didn’t discount our car (full-sticker), but he does get a $1000 rebate from Toyota, we showed him $1000 more than he wanted for his trade, and we threw first year’s maintenance in there to puff the deal up and make it look better. He still had to think about it, and his pregnant wife had been in and out of dealerships all day, so they were pretty much spent.
More importantly, I came up with a new Christmas sensation song. Goes a little something like this: “Suck-suck-suckin’ on a peppermint stick. Nib-nib-nibblin’ on a peppermint stick. Crunch-crunch-crunchin’ on a peppermint stick.” — the accompanying video would involve me smiling as I jack off two big candy canes.
I really like all the people I work with.
I’m having some issues at the apartment. My commute is an hour each way and I work long hours, so my time at home sleeping/playing Fallout 3/jacking off is very special and important. Recently however my peaceful domestic bliss has been shattered.
Twice every hour or so, I will hear the distinct sound of an old man cumming. “AUuuuuggghhhhHHHHHH” — like he’s auditioning for a role in a pleasure commercial. “Brand Z pleasure is the best! AUuugghhtttmmDDD!” Then right after this horny fucking asshole blows his load, he lights up a butt.
The flavorful aromas of nicotine, ammonia, borax, toilet-bowl and burnt corpse all waft into my room minutes after the cumming noises. The smell reminds me of when I shared an apartment with a girl who chain-smoked Parliaments. God I hope that bitch has a miserable life.
Anyway I went downstairs and had a word with the guy today, after waking up two other people thinking it was them instead. But yea, I finally got the right guy. He says he isn’t making any noises, and he pays rent for the apartment so it’s his right to smoke in it. Well guess what buddy I pay rent to, and it’s my right to leave my computer on a loop of Gay Guys Fucking Loudly, when I go in for another bell-to-bell shift tomorrow.
As we watch numerous crises unfold, be it in the banking sector, the automobile sector, the Olympics or in Sovereign nations such as Greece and Portugal, one can assess the different ways to manage a crisis.
Crisis management is one of the fundamental parts of the public relations field. It can actually be explained, quantified and understood by the lion’s share of clients and customers. It is also one of the more volatile aspects of this business.
It’s easy to point a finger at another PR professional or agency about what you might have done differently than they did in order to mitigate the circumstances that befell their client. While hindsight is always easy, a few key rules should be followed when dealing with a crisis communications moment.
The following is a brief checklist:
a) The news flow must be given out by one and only one party. There must be one spokesperson who is in charge of speaking to the press.
b) That person must be completely up to date with the unfolding situation and must be available to comment.
c) A swift and early acceptance and acknowledgment of the issues at stake is crucial. The earlier you
respond and are transparent, the better you will fare in the eyes of the press.
d) Regular scheduled briefings should and must be held in order to feed the news media. If you don’t get in front of the news, the story will get away from you.
e) If it is yours to take, take responsibility for the problem.
f) Come up with a short, medium and long term solution to deal with the problem and let your solutions be known.
g) If need be, call in independent parties to assess your solutions and to make recommendations.
h) Show your clients that you understand the gravity of the situation and are working to rebuild their trust because it matters to you.
While none of these steps will necessarily be so linear, if you look at the Toyota crisis and car recall, you can see that after initially ignoring the problem, once they focused on the enormity of it, they put these ideas into practice. It’s amazing the response that they are getting from the market.
Think of how differently they have behaved than the nation’s banks. Perhaps the banks can take a page from Toyota’s playbook for future crises which will certainly be coming down the pike. One can only hope so anyway.
”Should I buy a Prius?” Well, it all depends really…
Even though I am still fairly new to the club of being a car lover, I am by no means a “car buff”, but every now and then a friend will ask me a car related question. Last week at work, it was “I want to save money. Should I buy a Prius?” After thinking it over for a moment, I had to tell him; “Well, it all depends really”.
While there’s never a car out there that would be perfect for everyone, nor is there ever a car that is just simply perfect, the Toyota Prius has exploded onto the car community beginning in 2001 here in the US. Touted as the car that could very well help to save the planet, it would save you enormous sums of money at the pump, and was the perfect car to look for to replace all the ‘gas guzzlers’. Or, is it?
I will use myself as an example to show that this may or may not be true for you.
I drive a 1998 Ford Taurus SE. It is paid for, and I have an excellent driving record, so my insurance is very inexpensive. Also, this car was sold in huge numbers, so parts are widely available, and I can get it serviced just about anywhere.
Lets total up the cost of this car for me to own it:
Monthly payment: $0.00 (ha ha!)
Insurance: (I carry full coverage because this is my only vehicle for now) $32.85 per month
Regular maintenance: $27.83 (this includes 4 oil changes, and 2 services for the year averaged out over 12 months)
This totals up to about $80.68 for me to own and maintain this car every month. Not too bad really. Now of course, since my car is older, and has a few miles on it, there will be the inevitable mechanical issue that may pop up, but I’m not including that for now.
Now, the cost if I were to go and buy a new Prius: (A 2010 model with just over 8,000 miles on it for $29,991)
Monthly payment: $646.00 (60 months with good credit)
Insurance: $88.36 (not too bad)
Regular maintenance: $54.00 (Toyota only recommends oil changes at around 5-8k miles )
So, this totals up to about $788.36 per month. Hmm. Not looking too good on the “saving me money” frontier.
“But,” you say, “a Prius will save me loads on gas!”
No more will we have to mortgage our houses to fill the tank. Nor will we cower in fear when the price of crude oil skyrockets. We will laugh, laugh I say, when we pass the gas station where our fellow-man will be handing over the kids college savings to fill their SUV and Hummers. Or will we?
Again, lets take me an as example. I am lucky to live close to work, and with the hours I work I rarely have time to go anywhere. So last year, I racked up a total of only 4800 miles on the old Taurus. And, my car is surprisingly fuel-efficient.
When my 1998 Taurus rolled off the assembly line, it was said to give 19/28 mpg for city/highway driving. Today, due to being rather anal retentive about maintenance, oil changes, checking for proper tire inflation, and not driving like a lunatic, I actually get a bit more than that. I’d say I average about 25/32 mpg for city/highway. This might also be due to the fact that I have upgraded the brakes and most of the suspension since I bought it, and have proper tires on it.
As I type this, the price of middle grade gas in Columbus Ohio is about $2.42 per gallon. Taking the roughly 4800 miles I drove last year, and because I lack a proper social life, this works out to roughly 10.34 cents per mile.
Ten. Freaking. Cents. Shameful, really.
Now, lets look at the Prius: It is advertised at getting 48/51 mph for city/highway. Now, we all know that a Prius wont really give you that, but to be fair, we’ll use those numbers. So, taking the same 4800 miles, and the same price of gas, this would cost me about: 6.3 cents per mile. And that’s really good to be brutally honest. I doubt anyone here would ever say no to those numbers.
So, it is cheaper then. Right? Not so fast buddy. We need to look at the whole picture here. Yes, I would spend about half as much at the pump due to the small number of miles I drive. But again, look at the total cost:
To pay about 10 cents a mile for gas in my Taurus costs me about $81 per month.
To save about 5 cents a mile driving the Prius would cost me an extra $707.00 a month! For the next 60 months at least.
Overall then, to save about $92 a month in gas would cost me over $700 a month to do so. And this would involve me going into about $30,000 in debt.
So, will a Prius save me any money at all each month? Not a chance.
But again, this is the case for me. My car is paid for, so taking on a new car payment does count for a lot of that. Also, the higher insurance and the fact that you can really only have this car serviced at the dealer which generally costs more. If you currently have a car payment, have higher insurance already…or have a car that is truly a ‘gas guzzling clunker from Hell’, then a Prius may be a car to consider. And it does get a very good crash rating score of 4 stars overall, with a 5 for the front side impact.
I drove one of these last year, I believe it was a 2007, and it’s not a bad little car overall. Fairly agile, decent throttle response, and the ability to park in a smaller spots was quite nice. For being a smaller car, there was quite a bit of room inside, and the ride was okay. It was a bit hard to see out the back, but my Taurus is even worse if I’m honest. I’m used to driving a car that is a bit bigger and heavier, so to me the car felt a bit…’floaty’ going around turns at higher speeds. I only drove it for that afternoon as it was a friend’s car, but my impression of it was ‘not too bad’. However, the day I had it, I didn’t see the mpg on the dash readout go over 35. And I wasn’t really driving it that hard.
My friend likes hers a lot, but says that this winter it has “scared the holy Hell out of her” as the tires seem to lose most of their traction in even the tiniest bit of snow. Also, she has had a few repairs already that she says are higher than her old Corolla. And her paint is peeling in spots already, but then again, so is my Taurus. When I told her I was going to use her car as my first ‘review’, she said that although she does like the Prius, if she had to buy again, she would have gotten the Yaris instead.
So, back to the original question: “Should I buy a Prius to save money? ” In my opinion, if you have a car that is in good condition, reliable, is paid for and you’re happy with it, and are looking at a Prius just to save money in gas, then my answer is no.
It may be obvious…. or not…. I am a very experienced automotive consultant. I help folks get cars the easy way. I have been doing it for over 10 years. I started with Toyota, had my own used car store and have settled nicely into a position where I am an independent consultant aligned with a powerful and sizable organization in Colorado. I travel the southwest locating nice vehicles for people.
I was lucky to be trained into a system “the best” in my opinion. Toyota and Kaizen = continuous improvement. When we sold Toyotas the system taught the customer to take very good care of their car. The result is a great product, well cared for, resulting in great resale value.
Overall cost of ownership was less than most other brands. That is how Toyota built value into it’s entire program. There is no wonder that loyal Toyota customers pay up for their cars and still love Toyota even with the headlines of the “killer gas” pedal problem. Toyota had a similar issue with the 3.0 Liter V6 from the early 90’s 4 Runner & Trucks. Head gaskets would fail. They still honor the recall and repair the car no questions asked. It is 2010 now. I believe the last car made with that issue, was built either in 1994 or 1995. 15 years. Great company, great system, great follow through.
The whole thing builds value into what they sell.
Inexperience leaves much of any story unfinished. This is where I will try to tie in Toyotas into MLM or Home Based Businesses or Network Marketing.
Build a system that makes your new business partners successful. A million dollar system that only costs $300. Who wouldn’t buy that? A system like Toyota. Near perfect yet always being improved. From the start our clients need to be pre-educated how to have their business partners or customers, serviced from the start. Solve their problems before they cause frustration and kill their business. Problems like Selling when thay never wanted to sell anything. Calling all their family and friends. Having meetings and having no one show up. Eliminate over load of information. build simple & easy training and startup systems.
In the beginning of their new business opportunity, let them know what to expect. Why they feel the way the feel. How to feel good about the process and how to build the right culture.
When you start anything you are given bits of information that make no sense. As you progress you start to grasp concepts. You get more bits of confusing information. It may be that you get information in the wrong order. High level information that makes sense someday. Just not today.
In time the fog clears as you gain experience, make mistakes and improve.
If you are lucky you start with the right company or right mentor. Most are invited into MLM by the wrong people into the wrong opportunity. Some fail never to do it again. Some stick with it and have over night success in 15 years.
If you have struggled with your own MLM business. I want to help you.
Let’s get you in a Toyota like system. Build value into everything you do. Shorten your learning curve and get you and your business out of the fog.
Pierdem bani (ce surpriză) din nou (mhm) . De data aceasta de la Banca Mondială. De ce? Pentru că nu ne-am organizat şi noi un pic să avem grija de infrastructură. Am făcut măcar o parte? Nu, nici măcar proiectele iniţiale. Şi cât s-au dus? 225 milioane de dolari. Dar cât timp am avut pentru aşa ceva? 5 ani.Păi şi acum? Ne plângem în pumni. Iar.
Toyota s-ar putea să moară curând. Deocamdată tinde doar spre comă. După ce a chemat în service o groază de maşini, acum este dată în judecată de către o anumită doamnă din State. Aparent, sistemul automat de la Prius nu e aşa fenomenal. De fapt, e atât de prost, încât a murit un om din cauza asta. Toată ştirea, aici. Numai sumele iniţiale pentru reparaţii au nenorocit Toyota (mai ales într-o astfel de perioadă), nu vreau să mă gândesc cât o să ii coste procesul.
Problema pensiilor pornise iniţial doar de la o metodă de a mai reduce din cheltuieli. Targetul s-a hotărât să fie pensiile mult prea mari, sau acesta era planul.
Principala obligaţie a autorităţilor române asumată prin acordul cu Fondul Monetar Internaţional şi Comisia Europeană este reforma finanţelor publice, care se traduce, în primul rând, prin înlăturarea risipei. De aceea, prima vizată este politica salarială şi de pensii în sistemul public. Legislaţia în aceste domenii va fi modificată astfel încât grila de remunerare să devină echitabilă pentru angajaţii cu aceeaşi pregătire şi răspundere din toate instituţiile de stat, iar sporurile, primele şi alte indemnizaţii să ajungă la cel mult o treime din totalul veniturilor. Reprezentantul FMI, Jeffrey Franks, a arătat că Guvernul trebuie să reducă cheltuielile de personal elaborând Legea salarizării unice şi, totodată, să reaşeze modelul de indexare a pensiilor în raport cu inflaţia, pentru a preveni o posibilă prăbuşire a bugetului de asigurări.
Sursa: Capital
Mai multe detalii, găsiţi şi pe blogul celor de la BizBazar.
Preatalentatul nostru Guvern,însă,ce-a făcut? I-a făcut pe oameni nesimţiţi, de parcă n-au muncit o viaţă întreagă şi şi-au scris singuri pensia pe un contract. În plus, a băgat ceva indicatori greşiţi pentru a crea impresia că a reuşit să acopere deficitul (asta de la un set de oameni care chiar şi-au făcut treaba şi au consultat economişti!). Stay tuned for our next episode: murder in the Parliament.
În PSD se continuă sub motto-ul “în săbii să ne luptăm” . Diaconescu e mai cuminte, Năstase se dă macho, Geoană – cei 3 muşchetari.
Jurnalul atacă reclama tâmpită de la chipsuri, sub titlul de “Chipsuri pentru creiere siliconate”. Superb!
Pe plaiuri blogăreşti, [D][S][N] ne distrează puţin, tot pe teme politice, iar Victor Ciutacu protestează contra manipulării (recomand cu căldură).
Reputaţia brandului japonez TOYOTA se duce pe pulă… din cauza unor greşeli minore, care cauzează probleme majore.
După un recall de proporţii la sfârşitul anului 2009, din cauza covoraţelor care cică încurcau acceleraţia… a urmat o nouă rechemare la service a 2.3 milioane de maşini… la începutul lui 2010.
Problema nu era la covoraşe, ci la pedala de acceleraţie, care rămânea blocată… fapt care îl determina pe le şofeur, să se întoarcă rapid cu faţa la Dumnezeu prin nişte rugăciuni.
Cu ocazia acestui eveniment buclucaş, se anunţă decăderea brandului japonez din fruntea producătorilor de maşini, iar producţia a 8 modele Toyota din SUA, a fost sistată.
Aveţi mai jos un video despre toată treaba, care conţine şi o înregistrare sonoră în timpul unui accident cauzat de acest mic aspect. Upsssy daisy !!!!
We can’t repeal DADT because Osama bin Laden might be offended?
Another Fox Congressman wants to privatize SS and Medicare (because that’s worked so well for healthcare)
Paying for ignorant behavior to promote greater ignorance in general
Snow jobs
Allen Stanford gave over $1.2 million to the Dems and Republicans, and neither party plans to give any of it back to Stanford’s victims
It’s probably for the best that most teabaggers aren’t married to shrinks
Mosque vandalized after Islamville report (that would, of course, be on the other side of the tracks from Jesusberg and down the road a ways from Jew Town)
Speaking of Jews….
Like Broder and Klein, Marc Ambinder also published a puff piece on Palin today just as new polls show she’s all but reviled by most Americans
Atlas Juggs tells Ron Reagan Jr. that she knows what his father thought better than Ron Jr. does (yes, it was an argument about whether Reagan would have loved Sarah Palin)
CBS refuses to run pro-marijuana ad
Still cheering for secession
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More on ebooks:
The fundamental question is: Who gets to decide? Consumers will vote with their clicks and pocketbooks and if the e-book format becomes moribund — at a time when e-book prices are higher than many think are defensible, given that there are virtually no production or delivery costs in the traditional sense — we’ll never know what went wrong.
On the other hand, pricing e-books closer to the actual production cost could damage the book publishing ecosystem, and that would be tragic beyond words….
I see. Advances in production technology have wiped out almost all non-stoop labor farm jobs, many factory jobs and countless skilled trades jobs (watch a carpenter with a nail gun sometime if you don’t understand how technology impacts even skill labor). Everyone has had their lunch eaten by technology, but the publishing industry should be spared?
Fairly priced ebooks will not eliminate the printed book. There will always be collectors and fetishists who will want books printed on dead tree matter. The technology already exists to easily do limited press runs so there’s almost no chance of printed books ever vanishing altogether unless the demand vanishes altogether.
The biggest problem facing out-of-print books is copyright, not access to a printing press.
Stop coddling what is quickly becoming little more than the dead tree edition of the RIAA. Their jobs are toast, and why shouldn’t they be?
Do you have a book you’ve written you’d like to have published? If an ebook is OK with you, I can format that book in a matter of minutes. Needs editing? I can do that too, but it will take a little longer.
Now, if your book sucks, yeah, it would cost a lot more in terms of time and money to fix it, but if your book really does suck, who cares?
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I want to be part of Google’s super high-speed internet soooo bad. I want bandwidth that grabs hold of stuck ad servers, shakes the em dashes out of them, and slams a fully loaded webpage onto my browser without having to refresh the page half a dozen times.
Google is the best thing to happen to the internet since Mozilla. I used to use other search engines. Now I don’t even care who the other survivors are.
Google is a national resource, a cyber treasure, and the wave of the future. Because some day we will get past the greed-grubbing dik diks of Wall Street and we will have that Star Trek future where money is irrelevant and Earthers compete to see who can make the biggest contribution to the betterment of whatever.
But probably not in my lifetime or yours, greedy assholes being what they are.
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Etcs:
Jonathan Turley calls for a Constitutional Convention
Mick’s got a great idea: let people use food stamps to buy everything! (1 out of every 8 Americans is already on food stamps, btw)
Evan Bayh to get punched in the face every day until November 2 for being a liberal pussy (I made a note to send a letter to Dan Coats letting him know he’s wrong about Bayh and then I set the reminder alert for Nov. 3)
Iraq to whoremongers: you’ve got seven days to leave the country
Blanche Lincoln’s vote against Craig Becker just earned her a primary opponent (and not one picked by the Netroots which means he might actually beat her and still win the general election)
Everyone’s still focused on the jobless, but it’s new grads are most boned in this most boned of all boned worlds
Bob Collins’ best post ever
Birkey on the grandstanding
John Kline just got a primary challenger from Norm Coleman’s old staff (and yes, this is so not what you think — click to learn why)
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From Brian Lambert:
With Toyota losing millions of dollars and its vaunted reputational standing by the hour, Emily Gurnon of the PiPress has an interesting story about a 2006 accident on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul that killed three people waiting at a stoplight. The colliding vehicle? A 1996 Camry that exited the freeway and suddenly accelerated to nearly 90 mph. “Koua Fong Lee [the driver] testified at his trial in 2007 that he was returning home from a church event on the day of the accident. His pregnant wife, their 4-year-old daughter, his father and his brother were in the car with him. He had no criminal history and had not been drinking or on drugs. He said he was not talking on a cell phone or distracted by anything else.” The driver is serving a prison sentence.
I’d say it’s time to get that guy out of prison, but more to the point, someone should pull the transcripts of that trial just to take a looky see at what the prosecutors said that got him put away for a known car defect.
This is about more than just a guy sitting in prison. I’d like to know why he’s in prison, and what DFL gubernatorial candidate Susan Gaertner’s office did to put Koua Fong Lee away. Prosecutors don’t have to stick to you, but they do because, well, they’re fucking prosecutors, that’s why. Never held accountable unless they lose, and seemingly never ever punished for breaking the laws or bending the truth.
I think Toyota’s crisis is not only a result of the sticky pedals but also the cultural and language differences as well as tangled lines of communication across the global offices that hindered it from acting within the ‘golden hour’ (first 48 hours) to contain the crisis. The simple rule of crisis management is to say it all and say it fast just like ripping off a band-aid at once. Toyota however is communicating this week what it should have said last week after being cornered by a journalist. A little too late when the stocks are down and clients are anxious.
The wording used by the Chief of Toyota in his hastily organized press conference is an indication of Toyota’s failure to know its audience and the appropriate words to use when talking to them. ‘I am sorry for your concern’ isn’t a good line to use when 19 people in counting have died from your sticky pedals.
Toyota in a desperate attempt to explain what it is doing has applied tactics that are not effective in restoring Toyota’s reputation and making people feel safe driving Toyotas.
Even though Toyota started on the wrong foot I think they are now getting onto the right path and doing the right thing in the face of this crisis. Apologizing and explaining what clients should to next and where they should go for more information is a good start. http://www.examiner.com/x-1995-Green-Car-Examiner~y2010m2d1-VIDEO-Toyota-president-explains-how-gas-pedal-problem-is-being-fixed
Toyota is continually updating its clients on what they are doing to fix the sticky pedals. http://www.toyota.com/recall/?srchid=K610_p278711360
In an interesting but risky approach to managing the crisis, President of Toyota USA, Jim Lentz is answering the Digg community’s top questions. The public was asked to vote for the most pressing questions he should answer regarding Toyota’s recall as well as its future plans. http://digg.com/dialogg/jim_lentz_1?OTC-em-fu11f
This approach is in line with the 95 thesis that calls for one to ‘get off the camel’ and go where the markets are and engage in conversation. This is a good strategy because Toyota is shifting from just communicating its message (what to do, where to go regarding the recall or showing a video of someone fixing the breaks which is not convincing) to listening and answering their clients thus helping them shape their message more and reducing on their clients anxiety.
The biggest indication of Toyotas efforts to minimize its cultural and language differences lies in the President of Toyota’s Op-ed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020803078.html Toyoda’s Op-ed follows Lukaszewski’s eight steps to earning public forgiveness. http://www.e911.com/How_Can_%20the_Lukaszewski_Group_%20Help_%20You/We_need_%20first_%20response_%20help_%20now/seeking%20forgiveness.htm He acknowledges the problem, explains what happened, what they have learned from the crisis and specific steps put in place to prevent this from happening again. These are the steps I would have taken at the beginning of the crisis in the ‘golden hour.’
I don’t feel safe driving a Toyota today because of the steering wheel problem that has just been reported however I commend Toyota for its efforts in doing the right thing to earn public forgiveness. It won’t happen overnight but they are on the right path.
About a month ago, I blogged about the market in 2009. My position was that there might be some opportunities for investment.
The BBC in Nottingham - sold in 2009
Interestingly PropertyData have just released the January 2010 figures and it looks as though there has been some improvement. The research suggests 1.146bn of property was sold in the first month of 2010 compared to £766m in January 2009. We still have some way to go to get back to 2006 levels when £3.695bn of property was transacted in the January!
Perhaps more interestingly is the compression in yield – i.e the increase in pricing. Although something of a ‘crude’ measure it is possible to measure the ‘all property yields’. This simply groups all property types and calculates the return in percentage terms. It can then be used as a comparison against other investment products.
The figures:
last 12 months – 7.2%
last 6 months – 7.03%
last 3 months – 6.85%
last 1 month – 6.68%
There is a move towards investing back in property….
Prices are still attractive when you consider rates for cash at the bank!
You might also have been slightly concerned had you invested monies in Toyota ‘blue chip’ shares which have fallen 16% in the last few weeks with the news of recalls to various cars…
Well, no one was suprised by the class action lawsuits being filed against Toyota. With rumors that the Japanese car-maker failed to disclose known safety issues, fatal accidents connected to runaway vehicle, the largest recall in history, and slow response time to the crisis, legal pundits have noted the impending lawsuits for weeks.
A national class action suit filed by McCuneWright, LLP, a law firm in Southern California, regarding sudden acceleration claims has been open since Nov. 2009. The case is only made stronger by the Toyota’s massive recall.
There are class action lawsuits being filed for consumers who purchased Toyota stock between August 4, 2009 and Feb 2, 2010. New class action filings are in the works for Toyota owners. The lawsuit contends the value of Toyota cars has decreased substantially since the recall, costing consumers an estimated $2 billion.
It’s a bad time to have a link to Toyota whether it’s owning the company or owning a Toyota. Or, unfortunately for me, any car made at a certain factory of theirs.
Now though, the news is that owners of a new Toyota Prius should be expecting a recall notice as the company has announced that some 8,500 cars in the UK are to join the growing worldwide list of vehicles being summoned following problems with the accelerator .
A change in date has necessitated the organisers of the Toyota Dealer 400, round two of the Absa Off Road Championship on 16 and 17 April, to move into fast forward mode.
The event, in previous years the penultimate race of the season, fell in a high fire risk window that often proved problematical. That issue has been alleviated by bringing the event forward, but it has placed a heavy burden on the organisers.
“We have had to expedite matters somewhat,” said race director Adri Roets. “Fortunately most of the systems are already in place and only need to be fine tuned.
“On top of that Fanie Erasmus and his team at Lydenburg Toyota have over the years built up a great relationship with farmers, landowners and members of the community. This is important for the success of events, and it has made our job a lot easier.”
Fanie Erasmus Snr. said the event was financially important to Lydenburg and to Mpumalanga. The race generated millions of Rands to Lydenburg and Mpumalanga coffers, with an additional spin-off in that it exposed the area as a tourist destination.
“It is a community effort but there are major role players like local landowners Piet Rabie, Paul Mare and Neil Englebrecht who do a wonderful job liaising with other landowners and helping with route planning,” Erasmus said. “Bringing the race forward has posed a few problems, but nothing we cannot handle.”
Roets said this year race headquarters, the designated service point and the finish would all return to the Lydenburg Rugby Club. The start, however, will again be from outside Lydenburg Toyota, in Voortrekker Street, and is again expected to draw a big crowd of enthusiasts.
“Planning for the route is well underway, and so far there are no problems,” said Roets. “We are keen on establishing a clover leaf course and are working along those lines.
“The region offers great possibilities in terms of different terrain and, whatever the final outcome, it is going to be a route that will provide competitors with a demanding test.”
- Credit: MSA Off Road Car Racing Commission
A full-page newspaper advertisement by Toyota that was an attempt to explain the situation and allay the fears about the car manufacturer’s problems with sticking gas pedals and malfunctioning brakes was not convincing to me.
It said there has been “a lot of talk” about safety problems. That implies that it is just all talk — not to worry. It reminds me of a cigarette company that ran an advertisement years ago that said there has been a lot of “hub bub” about the dangers of smoking.
I also notice that sometimes the televangelist folks use the tactic of making light of serious worldly problems or politics that don’t agree with them. One will say to the other in that kind of all-knowing and mocking tone, “oh my it’s all over the newspapers”, as in don’t pay attention to facts, just believe what we tell you and keep on sending the money.
But back to the Toyota thing. First the stuck gas pedals were blamed on slipping floor mats, then it was announced a fix had been found to correct some type of mechanical malfunction of the accelerator. And now we are learning that it has long been suspected it might all be in the electronics, but that is something apparently Toyota would rather not discuss.
And then there is the bad brakes — I’m not sure what the deal is on that. But too much go and not enough stop can be dangerous when it comes to motor vehicles.
Meanwhile, in an ironic twist of fate, Ford Motor Company, the only American car company that did not take government bail out funds, is capitalizing on Toyota’s woes and is trying to build or rebuild a reputation as a maker of dependable and safe motor vehicles.
Maybe success has spoiled at least one Japanese automaker, and hopefully it’s not just hype and at least one American auto maker has decided why not try putting quality and dependability over glitz.
What goes around comes around.
P.s.
And here’s another interesting thing about the whole saga. While the Japanese executive that heads Toyota was shown bowing and and apologizing for the whole mess and demonstrating his shame (as is Japanese custom), the American head of Toyota was quoted in the ads making the soft pedal comments that implied that the whole problem was more talk than fact. How Japanese. How American.
In the 19th century and the early 90s and the 20th century, the concept car is unknown. However, this man spent his life building and the creation of technology, it will become so famous around the world today. Cell A1 prototype is built in 1935, so the history of Toyota Motor Corporation began.
These days there are in cars and vehicles of people more choices and more choices. Car rental contract or individual employment is now the general term for business travelers,Personal travel, but also can be used for the family.
Toyota, still considered to be in the car rental area, one of the most coveted models. The main reason is its reliability and elegant way. Toyota car rental demand is that these days, hundreds of times higher than Toyota's are available for leasing. Most individuals leasing companies offer a wide range of automotive customers.
Toyota Toyota lease and lease contract is personal, because moreThe benefits of leasing is always more people. Great financing conditions, can be the basis for the purpose of the customer. Most car rental companies to open up its services to business people, travelers and people who simply lease more favorable for the purchase. In the individual contract hire car concept is the first known in the United States and Britain.
The most common Toyota lease contracts and individual rental car is a Toyota Auris, the badges, Corolla, Land Cruiser, RAV4, and those of Yarso Verso. From Toyota in 2009, the upcoming model is Venza 2009th
Most car rental companies to provide from 24 to 36 months contract. A major advantage of leasing is that it can not be a large number of expenditures. Most companies offer low interest rate period of a month, and no obligation to purchase rental vehicle.
Need in the United Kingdom, for example, the average monthly rent paid by Toyota"Automobile extends only from 100 + to 300 pounds, whether it is business or personal use – is still fairly low cost to buy the different comparison. From the lower monthly cash payment and zero, and the other advantage is low-maintenance Toyota personal contract hire, in addition to the need.
Tokyo, 07 Februari 2010 - Mau irit bahan bakar, ramah lingkungan, nyaman, mewah, melesat kencang dalam beberapa detik, namun kalau rem blong siapa yang tetap nekat memiliki mobil seperti itu. Dengan kondisi ini, Toyota belum segera mengambil keputusan untuk menarik mobil Prius generasi ketiga yang mempunyai masalah dengan rem dalam pekan ini di Jepang.
Pada hari libur, Minggu (7/2) ini, Toyota mengumumkan akan segera mengambil langkah-langkah untuk mengatasi masalah pengereman pada mobil Prius Hibrid. Ini sebagai pelurusan berita di tengah laporan bahwa Toyota akan menarik kembali model terbaru dari kendaraan di Jepang dalam pekan ini.
Pada hari Sabtu, Toyota memutuskan untuk melakukan penarikan kembali di Prius model terbaru di Jepang dan telah memberitahukan dealer, tulis koran terbesar di Jepang, Yomiuri, yang melaporkan tanpa menyebut sumber.
Dikatakan koran itu, Toyota akan mengumumkan langkah awal pekan ini setelah berkonsultasi dengan pemerintah Jepang. Kantor berita Kyodo dan TV Asahi membuat laporan serupa. Kyodo mengatakan sedikitnya 170.000 kendaraan di Jepang akan ditarik.
Secara terpisah, perusahaan ini telah mengatakan kepada dealer di Amerika Serikat yang sedang mempersiapkan untuk memperbaiki rem pada ribuan kendaraan Prius di sana. “Kami akan segera membuat pengumuman rencana tindakan yang akan kami ambil,” kata juru bicara Ririko Takeuchi.
Masalah rem menimpa sekitar 270.000 Prius yang terjual di Amerika dan Jepang mulai bulan Mei lalu. Toyota Motor Corp sudah harus menarik tujuh juta mobil lain di Amerika, Eropa dan Cina karena masalah pedal gas yang terjepit dengan karpet. Masalah-masalah dan kritik yang dialami Toyota telah merusak reputasi kualitas pembuat mobil terbesar di dunia ini.
Facing a major recall after discovering that some of its cars with malfunctioning gas pedals may be causing serious accidents, Toyota’s leaders have confronted the crisis with public apology. Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, apologized for his company’s recalls, and promised to ensure better quality control by setting up a special committee that he would lead. Moreover, the president and CEO of Toyota’s U.S. sales, Jim Lentz, said in a video on the company’s web site, “I know that our recalls have caused many of you concern and for that I am truly sorry.” Lentz also apologized to consumers on numerous morning news shows. With more than 2,000 documented reports of sticky gas pedals since 1999 that have caused 815 crashes, leaving 340 injured and 19 dead, it remains to be seen whether Toyota’s apologies will help repair the company’s image.
See the following videos to watch the apologies yourself, and to see a review of the company’s crisis management strategy:
Discussion Questions:
1. Why is offering an apology such an important part of crisis management?
2. Aside from an apology, what else should companies like Toyota say when issuing a statement about a major product recall?
3. What messages could Toyota use in its future campaigns to erase the public’s memory of this major crisis?
Update 6 February 2010 | Some modifications for LiPo!
Hey all! I just got my car ready for LiPo and the sundays training.
Tomorrow i will try rhis simple mod and see how it works on the track. As you might already know, my chassies wasnt meant for LiPo from the begining and it was made for 5 cell NiMh.
Here it is, the red spots are the modifications.
I did make a hole for the tape. The weights are for the lipo to stay were it is. The black things are cut NiMh holders. works like the lipo isnt going back and forth.
And tomorrow i am finally going to have my first training session for a while. Long time i drove and i cant really wait any longer
And also tomorrow i will try to film a little driving from me. Hopefully i am as good as i was before haha.
Update 31 January 2010| ETS Series Final day and big drama!
Hey all!
ETS round 3 has ended! It might not come as a schock but Marc Rheinhard took a win again! This guy is absoloutly amazing. He have won so much the latest 2-3 years its almost crazy.
And Viktor Wilck as second! Congrats mu fellow countryman! To bad you lost your ETS series lead.
The Tamiya TRF Team had a hard time with the setup in qualifying and they got it right for the finals, as Marc taking victory in Leg 1 and 2 and winning ETS round 3. But Viktor had to wait until Leg 3 to make the top 2 in the totalt results. Juho Levanen ,also a Scandinavian, made it to the third place.
The other scandinavians ended Steen Graversen 6th and adrian Berntsen 11th place. A good day for the scandinavians with good results!
But there was a big drama this weekend! As C-Final with current 1/10 Nitro Touring World Champion Daniele Lelasi was competing in there was a big leak in the roof.
The snow was so heavy(or something like that) and it started leaking threw the roof. as the track got wet, they had to change the tracklayout and continue the race with adding some extra minutes training so the drivers could adjust to the new layout.
And in Super stock Alexander Stocker had to leave his second spot becuse his daughter got ill, and they went home. To bad tho, he had a chance to win it all.
And thats all for now. Next ETS series is 5-7 March. and before that the Euros Indoor in Finland is coming up! In February
Update 29 January 2010| ETS Series in Czech Republic
Hey all!
Day one at the 3 round of ETS Series is starting to end. They all did some practice and end the day with qualifying.
There is also a really big race in the U.S this week and its SnowBirds. A very big event. But i decided to report the ETS series race.
Today at the end of the day, Marc Rheinhard the World and European champion sets todays pace at qualifying, followed by Viktor Wilck(swedish) and Juho Levanen(finnish).
Seems like Viktor got his car running good again after his horrible DHI CUP 2010 race in the begining of the year.
But beware, there is a really fast guy at ETS that outpaces the world champion big time! he was only 1 second from doing the only 17 lap in 5 minutes. to bad he had a crash on lap 14.
There is also a world champs fight going on with 1:10 NT world champion Daniele Lelasi and Marc Rheinhard. I wonder how this is gonna go. maybe he is as fast as rheinhard? We will see!
We can also say shortly that the Scandinavian people is really showing of in the Modified class with Viktor Wilck in 2nd, Juho Levanen in 3rd, Adrian Berntsen 9th(norway) and Steen Graversen in 10th(denamrk).
I am proud to be Scandinavian second 2006.
Here is the big awesome track. The lap record in modified right now is at 18,460 made by Hamak Zdenek, i think he is a local driver.
Today i went to Wäxjö MS to get an good impression of the track and watch some F1 Racing. Today they had a test event for a new class with F1 cars like Tamiya F109, 3Racing F1 and so on.
There where some tough racing, but also some hardcore passings hehe. Some seemed to be new to R/C but i dont really know. The class runs with LiPo and 17,5T motors. You can also have brushed motors and Nimh, but LiPo is better.
In this class there is a obligatory Pit-Stop where you have to stop within 2 minutes. If you have less then 2 minutes Pit-Stop you get a 30 second penalty thats about 3 laps on this track. Now, the rules are not set yet and we are just testing some out.The final is 20 Minutes and basically 18 minutes, becuse you stand still during the Pit Stop.
I also got some stuff from my friend including LiPo, Motor, LiPo safety bag and some spare parts for my touring car. So i am pretty much good to go. i just need my receiver, transponder and my licens now! So very soon i will put up a video of my first training session after 7 months waiting!
CANT WAIT!
Video:
I took some pictures today.
Niclas Nilsson, Winner of the day! congrats!
Håkan with his very nice looking Ferrari Replica.
This picture is taken during a Pit-Stop. They decided to charge the LiPo and hopefully they didnt run out of power.
The phone was taking the time so they wouldnt go out on the track before 2 minutes!
I had a good time and talk and just be social. So have a nice day and until next time folks!
O’Donnell Racing has just announced what they claim is one of the biggest contingency programs ever to hit the R/C industry. Drivers will have the chance to share in up to $120,000 in total prize money by using O’Donnell Racing Fuel, and finishing ‘in the money’ in select regional and national events. And it’s a program with a twist, every payout for ‘Joe Racer’ is bigger than the one a team driver would get. There are cash prizes for the top six A-Main finishers in select national and regional races. More cash prizes for first-place finishers in R/C Pro Series A-Mains including the Intermediate, Open and Pro classes. Cash bonuses for taking TQ in every one and more cash bonuses for winning ROAR and R/C Pro national championships.
To bad i cant join it if i understand it right. i have to race Nitro and basically live in the U.S to get the prize money. Damn “U.S only” rules
Why not IFMAR or something else? anyway, it will probalby make it way over here too i hope.
this week the blog/website went straight up in the air! I got so many hits this week and i am glad people reads my stupid comments haha. i cant tell you exactly how many that reads, but they are MANY. So thanks to all of you and hopefully you enjoy it aswell.
at the moment in my Racing i am hopefully going to take my time and visit a F1 pancar race in Växjö. They are having a race there and i will get some new stuff from a friend.
And i am gonna check out the track i am gonna practice some on. They have changed the layout a little so i am pretty excited to see how it looks like. I also got my soldering equipment from the postman “Teddy Dude”.
So i am good to go. The only thing that really misses is my receiver and my transponder haha. Still att my dads place. WHY!? I forgot them there………
Finally some stuff confirmed. I am gonna order some stuff for my car and hopefully i can drive again after 6 months waiting. I cant wait and i really want to start my training again so i really can become the best some day. thats my goal. with some bad luck the past seasons ive been racing, i hope those have finnaly ended. Now its serious and i have to get some good results more cosistently.
More training and more races is hopefully here very soon so i can see what i go for.
Nothing more have happend here really, just i orderd a LiPo Charger and some soldering equippment. I will also order LiPo cells, servo, motor. So be updated about that! See you!
like some of you already seen there is a big hype about one new car. Here is the picture and i will let you guess.
if you know it, you are ahead of those that dont!
Yes! It´s the Schumacher Cougar SV 2wd Buggy!
I gotta say, the picture is yummy! I like it and it tells me to buy it. And i really want to!
This is the latest from Schumacher i guess and some people says it has some different solutions for the motor, servo and battery locations. i dont really know myself but thats what i heard.
I myself is very curious about the electric buggy classes and i am probably gonna buy one to race with. I know the class is growing pretty fast in Sweden(Where i live).
Here is also a convincing video about how good it might be?
Enjoy!
and come back for more blog, news and Swedish Racing News!
I have checked out some stuff for my touring car and i came to a conclusion that i should be able to start training again late january or february YYEESSSS!!! Finally!
I will probably start my training at Wäxjö MS indoor track for the start of my precious training i need to be better then i am. I have only trained about 20 times the last 2 years so more training is the way to go here.
what i need now is: More sponsors, Lipo power, new steering servo, 5,5 motor, tire additive, my receiver that are at my fathers place in Staffanstorp :C and a little LUCK that i dont wreck my car the first training session. haha
Update 10 Januari 2010! DHI CUP 2010 avklarat! Swedish Translate
Ja, då var det slut för dem som deltog i det roliga. Med bra resultat från sverige sida så är vi nöjda. TommÖ Som tog andra platsen i Super Stock. visserligen tyckte jag det var fel att dem räknade tiderna bara, för annars hade tommö vunnit då han hade bättre resultat i alla 3 heaten.
Även grattis till Hagberg som tog sig till A final. tyvärr så var det ingen super snabb hagberg som kunde fightas om pallen, men det kommer fler gånger.
Viktor wilck hade en av sina sämre dagar, han hade väldans oflyt och verkar inte som bilen gick alls som han ville?
Magnus Vässmar och Niclas nilsson, måste säga det är årets bästa klättring. förra året var vässmar i B final, men han slogs inte om B final vinsten som han gjorde i år. bra jobbat! Niclas hade ett bra kval och kunde kört b finalen, men hans tid räckte precis inte till. så han hamnade i C finalen, otur Niclas. Men nästa år så borde du kunna ta åtminstone b finalen?
Grattis TommÖ för ett lyckat DHI CUP evengemang igen och hoppas bästa lycka nästa år med för dig och alla andra svenskar.
jag såg många var på hugget och kan säga vi har blivit snabbare, helt klart. men lilla oturen förföljde och det blev inte som tänkt för alla.
fr.v Christer Andersson ,mitten, Ronald Völker ,fr.h, Marc Reinhard. pallen Modified klassen.
Update 9 Januari 2010 DHI CUP 2010! Sweidish Translate!
Då var det dags igen med en av årets höjdpunkter i el touring. som en del av mina läsare vet så deltog jag i DHI CUP 2009 med väldigt dålig erfarenhet och en kass bil. Tyvärr så kunde jag inte delta i år, men kanske nästa år.
Det var stor glädje förra året med Alexander Hagberg som kvalade etta och hamnade tvåa på pallen 2009 i modified klassen. Och TommÖ Bergfeldt som tog hem allt rakt igenom. Svensk dominans kort sagt.
Och självklart hoppas vi på en repris i år!
Det ser bra ut i år också med 2 kval gjorda i Stock klassen så ligger Tommö på tredje plats totalt. Men han sa till redrc.net att bilen understyrde och då kan man inte få tillräckligt med kurvhastighet. Alla svenskar och kompisar hoppas han lyckas få till bilen innan det är försent. GOO TOMMÖ!!!
Vi har även andra duktiga svenskar i topp i stock som Carl Rönnbäck(min rival), Per Erik Nordman och Ola Westholm som jobbar för få till ett super kval då han inte ligger så bra till just nu.
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Efter 2 kval i modified har vi bra med svenskar också. Vi har Alexander Hagberg, Viktor Wilck, Magnus Vässmar och Niclas Nilsson följt av andra snabba svenskar som är verkligen på hugget.
Alexander Hagberg 7:a, Viktor Wilck 6:a, Magnus Vässmar 10:a, Niclas Nilsson 17. Mycket bra gjort grabbar och göra topp 17 efter 2 kval. Imponerande!
Jag och många andra hoppas på många svenskar i A final, det vore ultimat. Jag kommer ihåg förra årets jubel på läktarna när Hagberg och TommÖ Vann final heat!
Mer har jag inte att skriva just nu. Så återkommer säkert med mer senare idag eller imorgon!
Och som lovat skulle jag komma med lite mer info angående min fortsatta inomhus körning. Och ja! Det kommer bli så fort jag lagt en order på LiPo utrustning!
Jag hoppas kunna delta i SSIC finalen i Malmö. Det är den enda jag prickat in än sålänge. dem andra vet jag inte om jag kan köra.
Se kolla in snart igen på bloggen så kommer det skrivas lite!
Hej alla! Eftersom jag tänkte starta bloggen lite mer igen efter dåligt med göra. Så tänkte jag kunde skriva om lite andra händelser.
Forza Motorsport 3. Jag kör en liten serie kallat RTCC. Det ska likna STCC i reglementet. Jag körde detta och det var kul. vi är ca 20 man i serien vid första tävlingen.
Körde första deltävling förra veckan på torsdagen. Jag kvalade både etta och vann heaten. full seger.
Ikväll är det deltävling 2 och jag hoppas jag kan vinna den med. Jag kör detta medans jag väntar på få köra med min touring bil. det ger bra träning både för nerver, tävlingslusten och koncentrationen.
Lusse racet gick i helgen och grattis till Alex Hagberg som vann, med Niclas Nilsson efter sig. inte minst Daniel Carlsson som kämpat på bra och tagit sig till toppen i SSIC.
Update 8 May 2009| Valentino Rossi Find his way to RC!
Yes! Finally have one of the best drivers and talents in motosport found this great sport, Valentino “The Doctor” Rossi.
I found this unbelivable surprising news on Redrc.ne. Great news!
Rossi have visited a track called Riccione Raceway in Italy. According to the news he have visited this track before and tryed out some RC. And now he´s back to pay another visit at the track after his great win in Spain on Jerez Race track. That he also won with a big smile on his face.
thats what you expect of a master like him Those that dont know, Rossi is a MotoGP racer and have won 9 Worlds Championships in his international career!
Valentino Rossi
What makes me exicted is that he have got his bodyshell painted like his legendary helmet art. To bad you cant steal his design on that thing, i wouldn´t say no. hehe.
No one knows at the moment if he is going to continue with this sport or not. But he got really boog help and suipport, the former European winner and vice World Champion is by his side!
Seems like Valentino is having a great time and he look interested to continue the racing.
As long it´s fun, But if he continues later or sooner the little racing monster will grow out of him and he will do races and maybe bigger races?
A real legend is looking for something new?
MvH André Östlund
More about Rossi´s driving, pictures and videos can be found Here.
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Reputaţia brandului japonez TOYOTA se duce pe pulă… din cauza unor greşeli minore, care cauzează probleme majore. 
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It’s a bad time to have a link to Toyota whether it’s owning the company or owning a Toyota. Or, unfortunately for me, any car made at a certain factory of theirs.
I did make a hole for the tape. The weights are for the lipo to stay were it is. The black things are cut NiMh holders. works like the lipo isnt going back and forth. 
Niclas Nilsson, Winner of the day! congrats!
Håkan with his very nice looking Ferrari Replica.
This picture is taken during a Pit-Stop. They decided to charge the LiPo and hopefully they didnt run out of power.
Yes! It´s the Schumacher Cougar SV 2wd Buggy!
Those that dont know, Rossi is a MotoGP racer and have won 9 Worlds Championships in his international career!
Valentino Rossi
