Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 Forum - View Single Post - Toyota to Fix Accelerators after Largest US Recall

MLL67RSSS · 11-20-2009, 07:30 AM

I see a couple of things that could have an affect on Toyota's response to the issue. Just throwing it out there for your consideration.

1. In Japanese culture one thing that is very important and pervasive in their society is the concept of "saving face."

"SAVING FACE
Accuracy is important to the Japanese and errors are not well accepted. A Japanese does not like being put in the position of having to admit a mistake or failure. To do so means losing face and this is very serious. They are also hesitant to admit they did not understand something.
The Japanese tend to see criticism as personal and don’t understand how Americans can separate criticism of one’s actions from criticizing one personally."

It is not uncommon for people higher in Japanese society when found to have done something wrong or illegal that affects others and have "lost face" to take their own lives. They take it very seriously.

2. They may be trying to avoid what happend to Audi when the media reported in the early '90's that it's cars suffered from cases of "unintended acceleration."

From Wikipedia:
"This decline in sales was not helped in the United States by a 60 Minutes report which showed faked footage an Audi 5000 suffering from a supposed problem of "unintended acceleration" when the brake pedal was pushed, and emotional interviews with six people who had sued Audi after they crashed their cars. Independent investigators concluded there was no mechanical problem, and driver error, partially due to drivers not paying attention to the closer placement of the accelerator and brake pedals than some American cars. The difference was partially attributed to European driver's preferences for smoother heel-and-toe driving techniques. This did not become an issue in Europe, possibly due to more widespread experience among European drivers with manual transmissions.
The report immediately crushed Audi sales, and Audi renamed the affected model (The 5000 became the 100/200 in 1989, as it was elsewhere). Audi had contemplated withdrawing from the American market until sales began to recover in the mid-1990s.

If they publically admit that there is an issue with the cars that causes "unintended acceleration" they "loose face", and it could be very detrimental to thier sales.

11-20-2009, 07:30 AM	#47
MLL67RSSS Account Suspended Drives: car Join Date: May 2008 Location: location Posts: 1,569	I see a couple of things that could have an affect on Toyota's response to the issue. Just throwing it out there for your consideration. 1. In Japanese culture one thing that is very important and pervasive in their society is the concept of "saving face." "SAVING FACE Accuracy is important to the Japanese and errors are not well accepted. A Japanese does not like being put in the position of having to admit a mistake or failure. To do so means losing face and this is very serious. They are also hesitant to admit they did not understand something. The Japanese tend to see criticism as personal and don’t understand how Americans can separate criticism of one’s actions from criticizing one personally." It is not uncommon for people higher in Japanese society when found to have done something wrong or illegal that affects others and have "lost face" to take their own lives. They take it very seriously. 2. They may be trying to avoid what happend to Audi when the media reported in the early '90's that it's cars suffered from cases of "unintended acceleration." From Wikipedia: "This decline in sales was not helped in the United States by a 60 Minutes report which showed faked footage an Audi 5000 suffering from a supposed problem of "unintended acceleration" when the brake pedal was pushed, and emotional interviews with six people who had sued Audi after they crashed their cars. Independent investigators concluded there was no mechanical problem, and driver error, partially due to drivers not paying attention to the closer placement of the accelerator and brake pedals than some American cars. The difference was partially attributed to European driver's preferences for smoother heel-and-toe driving techniques. This did not become an issue in Europe, possibly due to more widespread experience among European drivers with manual transmissions. The report immediately crushed Audi sales, and Audi renamed the affected model (The 5000 became the 100/200 in 1989, as it was elsewhere). Audi had contemplated withdrawing from the American market until sales began to recover in the mid-1990s. If they publically admit that there is an issue with the cars that causes "unintended acceleration" they "loose face", and it could be very detrimental to thier sales.