Toyota Troubles Cause Quality Increase. In Korea And China
From the unintended consequences dept. comes yet another humdinger. Some keep saying the recent Toyota spat was intended to put the Japanese competition in its place. Instead, it ups the competitiveness of Korean and Chinese auto makers, says The Nikkei [sub].
“Against the backdrop of increased consumer attention to auto safety, a trend sparked by Toyota’s recall woes,” Chinese and South Korean automakers are now placing increased emphasis on quality control, writes Japan’s business paper.
Geely, which just has snapped up Volvo, will build a big development center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, where it will conduct crash tests and other safety experiments. The facility will cost more than $50m.
Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., a state-owned Chinese automaker that runs a joint venture with Toyota, plans to enhance its quality control in cooperation with the Japanese partner.
Meanwhile in South Korea, Hyundai’s labor union has urged its members to cooperate with management to enhance product quality, to avoid the troubles Toyota ran into.
The Nikkei is aghast: Korean unions demand better quality? “This represents a significant change of practice for the union, a body known for its aggressive posture.”
Who would have thought it: Toyota gets a kick in the rear, and who reacts? The Koreans and the Chinese.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Two years ago (2007)Hyundai led in 5 categories in the annual vehicle quality study by Strategic Vision Inc., a San Diego-based market research company. In a world of intense global competition, Toyota cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball.
In Seattle, the Toyota problems continue… The Toyota Curb Jumping Syndrome (CJS) continues: Last Friday, a Camry jumped the curb and crashed into a bank, injuring two people. The 86 year-old driver was Ok. Within an hour, part of the façade of a downtown 80 year-old building came crashing down, parts hitting a Camry parked out front. Clearly the Toyota Storefront Façade Falling Syndrome (SFFS) has yet to be brought under control.
Hyundai has made so much head way in quality of their products, they will probably be taking down Toyota in a few years. They have good exchange rates and will be able to offer Lexus amenities at Toyota prices soon.
"The facility will cost more than $50m." No shit, that's a world-class crash-test centre, though half what Volvo's (most expensive in the world) costs. But considering this is in China and they're probably porting some Volvo blueprints over, it'd be a pretty impressive facility. Gonna be interesting to see how Geely's will do a complete safety image makeover.