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Porsche 944 Turbo Type 951 - 1989

Porsche 924 had originally been an Audi project, designed under contract for the VW/Audi company by Porsche. When VW/Audi abandoned the project ...

The Volvo Legend www.volvocountry.com Pre-owned Superstore

The Volvo factory-backed CPO warranty fully covers every part not specifically excluded; including the replacement or repair of thousands of ...

Toyota Recall: Five Critical Lessons

By Michael Connor

Toyota’s announcement of a technical fix for its sticky gas pedals – which can lead to sudden acceleration problems - is not likely to bring a quick end to the company’s current recall nightmare.

Having already halted sales and production of eight of its top-selling cars in the U.S. - and recalled more than 9 million cars worldwide, in two separate recalls – Toyota faces the prospect of billions of dollars in charges and operating losses. The Toyota brand, once almost synonymous with top quality, has taken a heavy hit.

While all the facts are not yet in, it’s clear that Toyota’s crisis didn’t emerge full-blown overnight.   Fixing the problem and ensuring that something like it doesn’t happen again will require an all-out effort, from assembly line to the boardroom.  Even then, there are no guarantees. Maintaining a good corporate reputation in the 21 Toyota’s desire to supplant General Motors as the world’s number-one car-maker pushed it to the outer limits of quality control.

“The evidence that Toyota was expanding too much and too quickly started surfacing a couple of years ago.  Not on the company's bottom line, but on its car-quality ratings,”   writes Paul Ingrassia , a Pulitzer Prize-winning former Detroit bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. Consumer Reports magazine stopped automatically recommending all Toyota models because of quality declines on three models.