Recalling of Toyota cars
Toyota has been forced to recall many defective cars worldwide, doing great damage to its corporate image.
The company allowed its quality control systems to deteriorate over the years, and there have been many stories in the news about accidents caused by defective parts.
The fact that 40 per cent of the company's executives were inexperienced contributed to the decline in production standards, and a late apology about problems did not help the company's image.
I hope Toyota and other companies will learn their lesson. They should be more concerned about safety. Toyota needs to restore consumer confidence.
Jacky Ma Siu-cheung, SKH Lam Kau Mow Secondary School
From the Editor
Thank you for your letter, Jacky. Toyota has always been thought of as being a good, reliable brand of car. Your editor used to drive one and specifically chose it because of its reliable brand name. It is very sad to see the vehicle giant rocked by such mistakes.
Many companies today, in their desire to cut costs, get rid of people who are experienced in favour of new graduates. Whether they like to admit it or not, this leaves a knowledge gap which is not easily filled. Mostly, companies can get around this problem as their mistakes don't cost lives. But when they do it is often difficult for them to recover their good name. Let's hope this is not true for Toyota.
Susan, Editor
