Volkswagen are turning Toyota’s recall problem into a trend for car makers that achieve No 1 in global sales volume.
In Australia in the last 6-9 months the following sequence of events have impacted Volkswagen:
- Articles slowly appear on TV and print
- VW Australia immediate denial “Our vehicles are safe”
- Coronial inquest into a death
- VW Slow to respond
- Class action legal process
- Government Authority concern is now escalating
- New rumors that the recall population is deficient.
It will be interesting to see Volkswagon’s culture on display as they counter this crisis.
Toyota released a Hoshin-Kanri re-alignment after the Toyoda fronted the US congressional inquiry. In Non-Toyota speak this meant a significant change in direction and re-focused the whole company.
I understand The Gap in Toyota’s response was for the suppliers to retain training and skills after the GFC lay-offs. Toyota pride themselves in retaining many idle workers during the GFC and investing this time in making many improvements in a low volume build environment. This process of improving develops their people and is reinforced with training to ensure an understanding and context of the tools.
