The media never fails to let us down with the standard of journalism, at least in my view. Recent media reports have recently highlighted this to me yet again. This morning over my morning coffee I was reading articles on Toyota - they seem to be the latest whipping boy for the media.

CNBC’s article this morning seemed to focus on finding fault with Toyota because the dealers journalists had chosen to call for comment, didnt have an answer to how the fault would be fixed. Or that, “telephone messages left with three Toyota Spokespersons were not immediately returned.” Ohhhh PLEASE !!!! Notice the immediately in that comment, like the journalist is the most important thing a spokesperson from Toyota has to deal with at this point in solving a difficulty.

The Australian Financial Review wasn’t much better, with their columnist from “The Economist”. Comments such, “Although recalls are a routine matter for car makers, taking cars off the market is not” and “Toyota is making a habit of advertising the defects of its latest models”clearly demonstrates the journalist involved (unnamed of course) has no idea about what makes this company tick. Surely the fact that a company advertises rather than hides the defects in their product is a good thing - it helps the consumer make their choice on facts that are public and not hidden from view. That’s a good thing - yes?? Again, as I said the other day, the stopping of the production line is simply an extension of something that happens at Toyota on a daily basis and is fundamental to them gaining the quality reputation they have developed. Its natural for them to do this and the fact they have done this should be seen by the public as something to reinforce their trust in the product. The fact that their competitors don’t ….. (and that may include being open about defects) is open to interpretation. I know where my money is going next time I’m buying a vehicle.

The financial press this morning reported Toyota’s current problems in USA where they have halted production and made a massive recall of vehicles due to an accelerator problem is the door Ford & GM need to overtake Toyota again. The press are missing a couple of critical points. Firstly this issue has brought to the fore a fundamental part of Toyota’s DNA, that of stopping production until problems are solved.

Toyota dealers seem to be handling the obviously large number of calls from customers concerned about the safety of their vehicle and unfortunately at this precise moment they don’t have an answer or solution to the issue - YET.? Exposing yet another part of Toyota’s DNA - that of not moving forward until they have the solution. Not a patch to get them out of trouble but THE solution to the issue. Customers can breath easily in the knowledge that the solution will be the right one.

Ford and GM may in the short term get a few extra sales due to this issue - however they don’t seem to get the long term view Toyota takes. This problem could actually be the launching pad for a stronger Toyota in the near future. My prediction is that those customers that move away from owning a Toyota and back to a Ford or General Motors vehicle will be back in a flash after they have had an opportunity to truly compare the competitive product and then realise how far ahead the Toyota product really is. And once these customers have come back - Toyota will have them for ever.

Beware the wounded !!!