Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan, which was once known for its meticulous craftsmanship and ingenuity, whether it is the Yaris of the common people, the Corolla or the expensive Prado and the Land Cruiser, have gained a good reputation from users with leather durability, reliability and peace of mind; Toyota's high-end brand Lexus, avoiding the performance and control advantages of European luxury brands, has always been more stable and reliable quality as a highlight, "unswerving, the pursuit of perfection" is Lexus's former brand slogan... All this has created the quality myth of Toyota Motors, and the automobile industry even once had the legend of "Toyota that cannot be broken".
This is also the key to the success of Toyota's development and growth, and its exquisite craftsmanship, rigorous quality management and valuable ingenuity are also worth learning from China's automobile and even other physical industries. But in recent years, perhaps in the Chinese market is too smooth, coupled with consumer preference, Toyota Motor is not only more and more arrogant in pricing, but also more and more lax in quality management, the number of complaints has risen sharply, disappointing. No wonder some netizens said that Toyota's festival exercises have been falling down.
"Degenerate" to the use of flawed parts, Toyota has long been different
Recently, Toyota has come to the forefront of public opinion because of the "drop control", because Toyota officially announced: "It will start to use the supplier's defective parts for production." He also said that the background reason is to alleviate the problem of rising costs caused by chip shortages and raw materials, and to achieve the predetermined production speed. At the same time, Takefumi Shiga, chief project leader of Toyota Motor R&D Center, also said at an online briefing on the 7th: "It takes courage to relax the standard of parts and components. ”
In the past, Toyota has adhered to strict requirements and inspection standards for auto parts, even if some parts have no use problems and production defects, as long as there are slight scratches or wear, Toyota will require suppliers to scrap these parts.
Nowadays, it publicly claims to use defective parts, although Toyota also claims that these defective parts will not affect safety issues, will not affect the performance of the vehicle, and it is not even easy for consumers to find, "We are very careful about the exterior of the car, those parts are easy for you to see." But there are a lot of places that people won't notice unless they really look at it very carefully," Takefumi Shiga, chief of Toyota's research and development program, said at a news conference.
This is equivalent to acknowledging that in the face of the realistic pressure/temptation of sales and profits, Toyota has long been different from before, and constantly reduces its self-requirements, from the pursuit of perfection to the current "make quick money" in order to "make quick money", and reduce the parts standard from "perfect" and "qualified" to "ok and useful". This feeling is like a former editor-in-chief who is known for his rigorous and rigid review, who can't help but send the editor back and put forward strict revision suggestions, but now it is not rejected, so the level of the manuscript is also reasonable.
So it shouldn't be a surprise that the number of complaints about Toyota and Lexus models has risen sharply in recent years.
Defective parts, consumers suffer
Although Toyota said that defective parts do not bring safety issues and will not affect vehicle performance, they will not have a significant impact in the short term, and it is not even easy to be found by consumers, but it is likely to affect the quality of driving, especially the reliability and durability will be discounted, which is directly related to the user experience. For consumers, who wants to buy a Toyota car with flaws and even quality hazards?
You know, most consumers pay for toyota cars with real money and silver, more or less pay for Toyota's reliable and durable quality reputation, and which batches of products use defective parts and which ones are not, Toyota did not say that it will be clearly informed, so for consumers, is this not equivalent to the "blind box" of luck?
Some consumers may be able to understand Toyota that accepts defective parts, but since this is the case, Toyota should not only clearly inform in advance, but also reduce the price accordingly. Just like many consumers do not accept three-cylinder engines, but the price of your three-cylinder engine and four-cylinder engine cannot be said.
Also, if the problem of supply of chips and raw materials is alleviated and solved, will Toyota continue to use defective parts? Or wait for the wind to calm down, taste the cost-saving sweetness and continue to use? You see, we honestly announced it anyway? Anyway, after such a long time, our cars continue to sell well.
The "blatant" use of defective parts not only degrades the quality of Toyota and Lexus cars, but also has a bad impact on the entire automotive circle. Because Toyota is not only a vehicle manufacturer, but also has a parts factory and participates in many well-known car companies and suppliers. For example, Toyota Denso supplies fuel pumps to almost all Japanese car companies and a few American car companies, and JTEKT supplies steering machines to General Motors, all of which have previously been recalled due to quality problems. Not to mention, Subaru, in which Toyota is a shareholder, was once falsified by the bottom quality inspection data for more than 30 years...
Toyota's "honesty" or chicken thief?
There are still many Toyota fans to wash the ground, saying that Toyota is at least quite honest, in the face of the global epidemic under the influence of the chip and raw material supply dilemma, make this decision and make it public, is not only a helpless choice but also requires a lot of courage, and these things behind the scenes, some other car companies have been quietly doing it, Toyota can also be open is also a kind of responsibility...
This is only half the right sentence, Toyota's frankness is good, but as mentioned before, whether the model that uses defective parts will be clearly informed, whether the price will be lowered Toyota did not say, whether the follow-up supply chain will no longer use defective parts after the return to normal, nor did it say. Is this a responsible attitude towards consumers and the Chinese market? Under the seemingly frank attitude, many key issues are deliberately avoided, and this "honesty" is questionable.
And Toyota's claim that the chip crisis has led to a shortage of parts is also debatable. Are all the parts related to chips? Like a hem arm, a shock absorber, a brake pad?
In fact, the performance of Toyota in the Chinese market in recent years, discerning people can see that in the face of cost and profit, the spirit of ingenuity is getting farther and farther away from this brand, and in the long run, the damage caused by the brand image may be difficult to avoid. In the short term, Toyota still enjoys the brand premium it has accumulated, but in the long run, it is difficult to say how long this dividend can be eaten.