It appears to me that two Toyota cultures exist. The first lives in the company manufacturing headquarters in Japan where folks design and decide how to build Toyota products. The second lives here in the USA, where folks figure out how to get Americans to purchase the Toyota products.I suspect the folks over in Japan have a manufacturing model that allows them to design and produce quality vehicles worldwide. Given their success over the years it's obvious that their manufacturing culture is effective.
The folks over here in the US are concerned with product also and their main concern is getting you to purchase their product. Profit is built on sales. Sales are built on the image and feeling a customer has about the product.
Toyota has built a history of reliability and quality in the US, much of which can be attributed to the efforts of the US sales arm of Toyota. If you watch their commercials, you can tell the image they have in mind and more importantly want you to have in your mind when you're shopping for a new vehicle.
They also use their dealers, who actually see and touch the customer, to convince Toyota owners that their product is top notch.
When things are going well these two cultures are a happy place to be. When conflict exists, I suspect Toyota Japan controls Toyota actions. I suspect this is what happened in the case of the recent flareup regarding the unintended acceleration problems.
Evidently this problem has been a known issue for Toyota for quite some time. I also suspect the sales folks over here in the US were anxious to clear it up and fold it into the 'feel good about Toyota' culture. Evidently, the folks over in Japan were taking a hard look at the money issue regarding the huge number of vehicles that would/could need modification.
I'm sure there was much conflict between the two cultures until the Japan Toyota owned up to the issue. I'm sure they're still trying to figure out how to find the best way to eliminate these recall issues and turn them into 'feel good' results for Toyota.
I think the Japan Toyota folks don't take kindly to folks telling them their product is defective in ANY way and are reluctant to acknowledge problems and make changes. My perspective of their culture is 'there is no problem, we build good stuff'.
I doubt these two cultures will ever exist in harmony when problems arise. The main thing is to have the buyer believe that 'all is good' and that 'Toyota is the vehicle for you'.
Ponder it,
JD
PS - Most folks probably feel kindly toward Toyota anyway as they've at one time or another been a happy Toyota owner. Certainly the car magazine folks that fawn over them feel that way. So I suspect Toyota will roll right thru this episode on cruise control and that the Toyota owner culture will be affected very little.
PPS - I may be the only person I know that's never owned a Toyota. My culture and Toyota's culture don't mix well. As I've said before I'm a down home kinda guy that lives here in the BToS among a whole lot of Toyota owners.
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