A recent Economist magazine cover neatly distils all the recent attacks on Toyota. Time to set the record straight. Toyota has taught the world how to design and manufacture cars and trucks. Its doctrines of lean inventories and constant improvement, along with corporate humility, have yielded the world’s best cars—maybe not the most exciting, but durable, reliable paragons.
Lexus HS250L
Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Ferrari have all been greatly influenced by Toyota methods, and their cars are better for it. Toyota has made cars that are better Ferraris than a Ferrari (Lexus LFA), better Buicks than a Buick (Toyota Avalon), better Mercedes than a Mercedes (Lexus LS), and better Jeeps than a Jeep (Toyota Land Cruiser). Toyota’s in its tenth year with hybrids, and it owns that market. Its cars have also competed successfully in NASCAR, Formula One, World Rally, off-road events, and 24 Hours of Le Mans.
With GM and Chrysler having both gone bankrupt after telling consumers for years that they were on the brink of a turnaround, it’s interesting to see how Toyota is dealing with gaffes and unprofitable operations. First, the company is admitting that it has problems. Unlike GM, which constantly claimed it was reinventing itself, Toyota is reacting with calm focus and deliberate actions.
Mr. Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder and now the head of Toyota (the spelling was changed from Toyoda to Toyota for the corporate name), has been very candid. He admits that Toyota expanded too fast and lost sight of its roots. The result was some embarrassing product shortfalls and recalls. Toyoda also said that the cars needed more fun and excitement engineered into them.
Forty-five years ago (!) Toyota launched a serious drive for sales in the U.S. with a new car called the Toyota Corona. Two Americans, whose services had previously been rejected by U.S. auto companies, were important to Toyota. W. Edwards Deming, an American statistician, thought that analyzing and improving design and production processes could eliminate defects, thereby saving money on warranty costs and pleasing customers with defect-free automobiles. Toyota wholeheartedly embraced his ideas. The other vital player was David Power, a market researcher, who left Ford and set up his own company in Southern California to survey consumers and find out how pleased they were with the product they had purchased. Toyota became the first automotive client of J.D. Power in 1968. The U.S. companies had rejected Power, saying they already knew what their customers thought.
Toyota was smart enough to realize it didn’t know everything. The company has used and believes in J.D. Power customer surveys to this day. Toyota and Lexus are generally at the top of survey results. In light of this, let’s take a look at some of the new Toyota and Lexus models.
The 2010 Toyota Camry is the perfect middle-of-the-road family sedan. For extreme car buffs, this is a boring car. But for most buyers, boring, reliable, and versatile adds up to the perfectly satisfactory $20,000 to $25,000 car.
Showing that Toyota can execute on its very sophisticated market research, consider the Lexus HS250L Premium. If you’re too rich or proud to drive a Prius, but you still want to display your enviro-consciousness, this $46,000 anti-car is for you. A car buff would buy an Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz diesel to achieve similar fuel economy in a seriously good car. However, if you’re really not that into cars, but do appreciate fine finishes, beautiful leather, electronic gadgets galore, and a bland driving experience, this is your ride.
Finally, the latest Prius: it’s everything the Lexus is, minus the super-luxe execution, but with the same level of quality, and equal appeal to your green side.
Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, and others have closed in on Toyota’s quality and reliability ratings, creating a new era for car buyers. You have a sixty to seventy percent chance of getting an absolutely zero defect car with many of today’s best models. And in many others, you can expect one or maybe two minor defects over the first two or three years of ownership.
As evidence of that, our family’s last seven new cars (two Audis, one Porsche, one each of Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki, and Subaru) have had an aggregate two minor defects. Over 200,000 miles, seven cars, two little glitches! Thank you, Toyota.
WHEELS OF CHANGE
There’s a new book out, Wheels of Change, by Bay Area author Kevin Nelson, and published in collaboration with the California Historical Society. In it, Nelson traces the last 100 years of how the automobile and California have affected one another. He shows how California’s car culture has fashioned the world of automobiles. The racers, designers, and engineers in California have caused most of the world’s automakers to establish design centers in Southern California. The first motel was built in the 1920s in San Luis Obispo. Fast food started here. Drive-thru banks and restaurants originated in California.
Car buff or not, you’ll enjoy this book, and you’ll understand our state better. You may even decide that the automobile has been a benefit to society!
Martin Swig is a former San Francisco new-car dealer who now presents the internationally-celebrated California Mille and other historic car events. As a free service to Gazette readers, he’ll offer suggestions on how to dispose of a cherished car. Call him at 415-479-9950.
