Name: Mehwish pervaiz

09-arid-991

Assignment # 02
Question no. 1
Give a detailed outline of the problems Toyota is facing with a brief history of them.
Answer:

Before start writing on the problems of Toyota which it is facing now a days we should
discuss its history in shortly.
Toyota Motor Corporation which is known as Toyota and in short it also called as TMC
its first headquarter is in Japan and Toyota is world’s largest automobile maker.
The company’s history starts in 1933 and it is come into being by kiichiro toyoda in1937
from his father company Toyota industries. in 1934 when TMC is a part of Toyota
industries its first creation is type A engine and 1936 its first passenger car which is
Toyota AA.And its group companies are Toyota, lexus, Daihatsu and Hino.and now its
headquarter in Aichi and in Tokyo.where Toyota manufacture automobiles it also
provides financial services.

2007-2010 financial crises:

On May 2008 Toyota reported an annual net loss $4.2dollar and it is highly affected by
2010 financial crisis
In 2010 three related recalls of automobile by Toyota Motor Corporation was occurred:
• Floor mat recall
• Recall due to faulty accelerator pedals
• Anti-lock brake software recall
The first recall on Nov 2, 2009 was to correct an out of place front driver’s side floor mat
into the foot paddle.
Another problems caused by floor mats jamming the accelerator, a problem for which
Toyota issued a recall in November. The vehicles involved in that recall are the 2007-10
Camry, 2005-10 Avalon, 2004-09 Prius, 2005-10 Tacoma, 2007-10 Tundra, 2007-10 ES
350, 2006-10 IS 250, and 2006-10 IS 350.
The problem related with accelerator paddle is rare but can occur when the paddle
mechanism becomes worn and in certain conditions, the accelerator pedal may become
harder to depress, slower to return or in the worst case, stuck in a particular depressed
position. In recent months, Toyota has investigated reports of sticking accelerator pedal
mechanisms in certain vehicles without the presence floor mat.
Sales are suspended for several weeks as result of the accelerator pedal recall. As on
January 2010, 21 deaths are reported due to pedal problem since 2000but according to
recent recall the number of deaths reaches to37.the number of victims and reported
problems are fastly increased in January 2010.and some customers that had their recalled
vehicles repaired still reported accelerator pedal issues.

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On Jan 29, 2010, Toyota recall was also occurred in Europe and china and number of
vehicles which are affected reached to 1.8 million. Toyota recall4.3million vehicles for
incorrect floor mat. Toyota recall 2.3million cars for problem with sticking accelerator
pedal .1.8 million vehicles in Europe and 750000 vehicles in china were recalled

Toyota’s accelerator pedal design and its problems:

The Toyota electronic accelerator pedal contains a special friction device made of
nylon4/6 within the pedal assembly to the recreate the tactile response of older pedals.
According to the Toyota recall information it is this device, which in some instance, has
been preventing the accelerator pedals from returning to zero. According to the Toyota,
the friction device in the affected Toyota electronic accelerator sometimes creates too
much friction. This excess friction either slows the pedal return or completely stops it. In
the worst case once a pedal is pushed to a specific setting it stays at the setting even if the
driver removes their foot from the pedal.
Anti-lock brake software recall:
On Feb. 3, 2010 the NTSA announced that it had received reports from 102 drivers of
possible problem related to the braking system on may 2010toyota prius ad same case
had been received in Japan and in the response of this problem Toyota said that it was
caused by s software glitch and company said tat it was looking into the best way to solve
problem.
Other recalls and problems:
• On February 8, 2009 Toyota announced a recall of approximately 7,300 early
2010 model year 4 cylinder Camrys due to the possibility of the power steering
hose rubbing into the front brake line which may cause a brake fluid leak

• On February 12, 2010 Toyota recalled approximately 8,000 2010 model year
4WD Tacoma trucks for potential front drive shaft issues.

Question no.2
. Has any other Car Maker gone through a recall of comparable volumes in the recent history,
describe briefly? If not is there any other recall (in any other industry) of comparable
volume?

Answer:
• Ford Motors has recalled over 20 million vehicles, the highest recall year
being 1996 with over 7.6 million units. The news of Toyota’s 5 million
units recalled could be overshadowed by Ford’s recall history.
• It began back in 1972 when Ford issued a recall for over 4 million cars
with faulty seatbelt buckles. With indications that the buckles could
release in a crash situation, the auto manufacturer recalled cars from its
Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands – every single one of them made
during models years 1970-71.
• The next major car recall from Ford was the 1996 Ford Explorer recall.In
this recall the problem is as the ignition switches were found to be

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 defective and could catch fire or overheat. Nearly 8 million cars were
affected and Ford recalled nearly all its cars manufactured between 1988
and 1993.
• 2005 wasn’t such a great year for Ford in the recall department, either.
While we’re at it, we should mention 2009 as well. Both years resulted in
a recall of 4.5 million units each for Ford,
GM Recalls Compact Cars to Fix Power Steering
Assist:
• General Motors will conduct a safety recall of 1.3 million compact
cars to replace a motor in the power steering system. Vehicles affected are the
2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt; 2007-2010 Pontiac G5; 2005-2006 Pontiac
Pursuit sold in Canada, and the 2005-2006 Pontiac G4 sold in Mexico.

• General Motors Corp is recalling nearly 1.5 million Buick, Chevrolet,

Oldsmobile and Pontiac mid-sized cars due to a potential leak of
engine oil that could cause an engine sale fire.
Question no.3

Q.3. Describe, in detail, what operations Toyota will possibly need to manage while handling
the matter the way they plan to handle (considering media reports on how Toyota is planning
to deal with the issue)? Analyze Toyota’s response to the issue particularly in the context of
Operations Management.
Answer:
Toyota’s plan for fixing the problem:
On Feb, 2010 Toyota said that (according to media repot) that they are planning to fix
the all problems related with accelerator, brake and floor mat and also for any other
problem.
Fixing vehicles under accelerator pedal recalls:
In jan.2010 Toyota announced that the sale of Camry and other related seven models are
suspended due to problem of pedal that could cause the pedal to stick and it could not
return to its original/idle position or return slowly to the idle position.
After getting knowledge about the problem then they announced that they are planning to
fix all vehicles covered by accelerator pedal recall. And eventually they identified the
cause of sticking pedal and the problem is friction device.however, Toyota has
determined that in some instances and environments the material that the surface of
friction device can wear and in some cases the pedal being slow to return to idle position.
The president said that” nothing is more important to us then the safety and reliability of
the vehicles our customer drive” and he added that it is not an easy decision of stop
production but we know that it is a right decision at that time and we can handle the
problem by fixing all the cars that have any problem.
Solution of that problem:

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(Source: Toyota)
The solution according to Toyota is precision-cut steel reinforcement bar that will be
installed into the friction assembly reducing the surface tension between two surface of
device, eliminating excess friction that cause pedal to stick and they said that we have
now confirmed the effectiveness of new reinforced pedal because that pedal have passed
fr0m testing process
Solution for anti-lock brake software recall: The company said that we are
looking in our best way to solve this problem this problem was caused by a software
glitch.On FEB.6 2010 Toyota announced that we had fixed the braking problem on prius
ad different related models by a software update to improve brake response. latar they
also announced a global recall for that kind of problem and they said that the affected
vehicles will receive a software update for brakes and its ABC system
analyzing the Toyota’s response in he context of operation
management:
Toyota entire company is taking major steps to become a more responsive and safety
focused organization in world. And they closely listen to their customer and also focused
on quality control and they also focused on carefully managing the process to produce
and distribution products and services. They focused mostly on customer value and
relation and they don’t want that anything can harm or destroy their company they want
to maintain their progress therefore they providing different services to customer and
immigently they are finding solutions for their problems and they are stop producing
more cars which have some kind of problem. They also focus on inventory control.
Question.no.4
. If you were in the place of Akio Toyoda what would you have
done differently in avoiding, or when already faced by, handling of
the problems?
Answer:

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If I were in the place of Akio Toyoda I will handle that problems in my way but I also
agree with that plans or solutions that Akio Toyoda had make. I will took some steps like
• First I will be more assertive in terms of providing customers comfort

• And I will investigate for that problem

• And I will try some technique to find its solution

• And after getting know about the solution I will provide special services to
customer

• And I will try to answer those question which are arising

• I will try to eliminate the bad image in public eye

• And I will offer low prices and give discounts on upcoming new models and
existing models to attract more customers and to maintain customer
relations strong.