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Toyota president urges workers, dealers to work toward new start

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Toyota was framed in US, and now these poor guys are planning to work harder and harder...

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“I could feel the president’s anguish, and I felt we all must work harder,”

This is precisely what Toyota needs; a few more karoshis (or should I say Caroshi) to show the public they are even more focused and alert during their quality assurance.

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Delist themselves from the stock market, get back to making good cars and pay their suppliers an honest price for their work...quality and trust would be restored then.

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A fair grilling by the law of the land in the US Congress. Nothing unfair.

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They should reconsider the profit driven approach based on mass production and price competition.

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Delist themselves from the stock market, get back to making good cars and pay their suppliers an honest price for their work...quality and trust would be restored then.

rehire those who were unfairly dismissed from employment and became homeless overnight in cold winter of Dec.2008 (0nward) It's their sighs that has hurt Toyota so badly !

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I agree with yaponist. Most of the malfunctions were as a result of faulty parts made in America. Not much was made of this fact, but being of Japanese mind, the workers here took the responsibility bearing the name of Toyota-shi. Many of my friends here work at the various plants here, and sincerely feel responsible, though I don't feel the onus should be solely on them.

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The unreported potion of the speech from Mr. Toyota to his workers:

Toyota: And remember, the harder you work, the safer our cars will be!

Toyota: Finally, let me remind you that Toyota workers have received an average pay raise of $10 a month for each of the past four years!

Toyota: It has come to my attention that Toyota workers drive Suzuki mini-cars...

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yaponistcom - Toyota was framed in US, and now these poor guys are planning to work harder and harder...

Framed? Hilarious! You must start reading international media and stay away from the Japanese tabloids. They don't have to work harder. They only have to do their jobs properly.

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Guys, Toyota is one of the best companies in Japan with regards to workers - casual Fridays, flex time... The folks that "overwork" tend to bring it on themselves. I feel for the families that have lost members due to it but Toyota has a very strict system for overtime - and little "service" overtime compared to many other companies - Japanese or foreign.

Good for him with regards to dealing with the workers as human, not robots.

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The dealers and the workers have nothing to do with this. Design, test and management culture are the problems. Telling the workers to get to it is not going to solve the problem(s).

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Guys, Toyota is one of the best companies in Japan with regards to workers - casual Fridays, flex time...

hah, yeah right. i watched a thing on toyota workers on a news show the other day and they said they hardly ever got to spend time with their families

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Delist please...get rid of domestic and international investors(better-known as self-interested short term scum)..

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He urged all to be prepared for “a long road ahead” of harsh criticism.

That's a little to close to some totally inappropriate metaphors..."It's full speed ahead. Nothing's going to stop us now. Let's put the pedal to the metal."

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This brings to mind a saying I've heard, "Work smart, not hard".

Agree with most posters on here that its not about working harder, its about making sure people do their jobs properly and check themselves.

When quality goes down it means someones not doing their job.

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If Toyota can get back on track, then I wish them well. De-listing them from the stock markets would be a death knell. Once a Corporation goes "public", it is virtually impossible to go "private" again. The cost of buying abck all the Toyota shares they've issued would bankrupt the Corporation.

It's good that Toyoda has finally accepted full responsibility and is leading his Corporation into the legal maelstrom that is soon to happen. I hope he is strong enough to lead them out the other side.

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AP is now reporting that Toyota was delinquent in providing data on individual crashes from vehicle telemetry. This is looking worse all the time. If Toyota's management doens't change they won't survive.

http://www.manufacturing.net/News-Is-Toyota-Hiding-Crash-Data-030510.aspx

In fact, if this report is substantiated, Toyota might be in more trouble than we all thought.

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Toyota president urges workers, dealers to work toward new start

It wasn't the workers and dealers who are at fault. It was the Toyota executives that failed to listen to customers complaints and to provide an adequate fix to the unintended acceleration.

Let’s go with high spirits, have fun and be confident while staying humble,”

The Toyota executives should take responsibilities instead of giving a pet talk. Toyota should not be working their engineers to death like a previous case because then product becomes defective. The workers should have a 40 hour work week so they are in good healthy and have time with family and friends.

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The only Toyota product I would consider is a Toyota engine powering the Lotus Evora. I'm not particularily worried about Toyota's recalls they just make boring cars that's all.

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According to Consumer Reports' 2010 Car Brand Perception Survey, Toyota was by far and away the winner with 196 points compared to second-best Ford at 141. (The lowest score was Hummer with an 11.) For the year before, Toyota again easily topped out at 193 with Honda second at 149 and last place held by Suzuki at seven.

As I noted in an earlier blog, Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, has obtained and reviewed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration complaint database.

A key finding: Toyota was the subject of 9.1 percent of the complaints from 2001 through 2010 (through February 3), including the sudden acceleration complaints, even while selling 13.5 percent of all new cars in the U.S. This puts it third in sales, but 17th in complaints.

So despite what the analysts say and what Toyoda seemed to support, there's no objective evidence that Toyota has of late been making a comparatively inferior product. As is so often the case with media-anointed "experts," the analysts are positing explanations for a non-existent phenomenon.

http://www.fumento.com/weblog/archives/2010/02/toyoda_confesse.html

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Let’s all face the facts. When Mr. Toyoda’s grandfather was in charge of the company, Toyota Motor Corporation was doing great. Now that his grandson took over, he started to get greedy by cutting cost and disregarding certain things to become the number one car dealer in the world. Well, he sure accomplished his goal, but now that most of his secrets are out, I think he will have a hard time selling his cars outside of Japan. His image has been tarnished and there are a lot of people that are angry with him and are in the process of suing him due to neglect and injury.

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he started to get greedy by cutting cost and disregarding certain things to become the number one car dealer in the world.

Actually, Akio Toyoda became president in June 2009, 6 months after Toyota became the world's largest car maker. Therefore, your libelous statment is false.

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hah, yeah right. i watched a thing on toyota workers on a news show the other day and they said they hardly ever got to spend time with their families

TV is one thing, real life is another. My husband is always home at a decent hour - and that can't be said for many others who work for other companies. Hate on Toyota all you like from the media but the reality is much different.

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tmarie said:

"My husband is always home at a decent hour - and that can't be said for many others who work for other companies..."

Well said for Americans who work for Toyota in the USA. Workers for Toyota in Japan, which sets the national wage increase standard each year during negotiations with organized labor (Shunto), have received an average $10 a month pay increase for the past several years--while Toyota was reaping $Billions in profit before the Great Recession. There have been several cases of Kuroshi, death from over-work, in Japan that have gone to trial against Toyota.

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A new beginning? This current saga is not even over yet. Slow down, dude...or maybe you can't slow down.

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