Toyota is preparing to cope with recent criticism in the US.
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In an interview with the Detroit News, the new president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, Jim Lentz, said, in addition to developing a thicker skin, the company also has to recognise that some criticism is legitimate, and that it may have to change direction as a result.
Toyota has grown to the second best-selling manufacturer in the US but its reputation has been damaged in recent months because of reliability problems and criticism from environmentalists.
At the Los Angeles motor show, environmentalists singled out Toyota after it launched the redesigned Sequoia large SUV. The automaker said the fuel economy of the new model exceeds the old model by 12%, but the old model achieves only 15mpg (on smaller US gallons).
Despite the criticism, Lentz expects Toyota’s US sales to increase by 4-5% in 2008 in an overall market expected to be flat. This year, it increased sales by around 4% in a weakening market. This was below expectations, however, with the new Texas-built Tundra pickup truck failing to sell as well as had been hoped.
Lentz told the Detroit Press that his Japanese bosses understood that increased criticism is a factor of greater success in the market. “What has always made Toyota strong is this sense of kaizen,” Lentz said. “We have to use whatever shortcomings or criticisms we have as a way to re-energise that kaizen within our culture, to make sure that we fix issues that we have before they become targets of our critics.”
