Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

The confinement bends and illuminates Kyushu, some families are happy and some are sad.

Cao Yang was happily busy visiting the purchasing and technical departments of General Motors and Ford Motors.

However, Kobayashi Tetsuaki, the head of Toyota Motor North America, was full of sadness at this time.

In order to attack the North American market, Toyota naturally has dedicated personnel in the United States to keep an eye on public opinion.

It's not that they didn't notice the news that the Camry couldn't stop.

But I feel that this is just a related report of an individual car accident, which has not attracted enough attention.

However, when NHTSA officially stated that it would investigate Toyota, Kobayashi felt that something was wrong.

Before Toyota figured out what was going on internally, various related public opinions had already fermented in the media.

Whether it's traditional newspapers, emerging Internet media like Yahoo, or TV stations, they are all reporting that Toyota's brakes can't be stopped.

The term "brake door" has officially entered the public's field of vision.

"Little Lin-san, what's going on?"

"Why did such a big mess happen in just one week?"

Zhang Fujio, who is very concerned about the American market, took a preliminary look at the situation, and immediately flew to the United States overnight with the design director Atsuo Fukuichi.

This made Kobayashi Zheming and the others even more stressed.

"President, the company is also checking internally to see if there is any problem with our brakes."

"From what we have so far, there is no clear evidence that these crashes have something to do with our defective parts."

Although there is a lot of pressure in his heart, Zheming Kobayashi still has to deal with the president's question with all his energy.

"Is it possible that there is no problem with the design itself, but something went wrong during the production of the part?"

"Such as the brake pedal and accelerator pedal, do they really meet the drawing requirements?"

"Are the local suppliers in the United States cutting corners?"

As the design director, Atsuo Fukuichi naturally didn't want the problem to come from his own department.

So his first point of view is that production has gone bad.

In order to cope with the rapid increase in sales in the United States, many parts of Toyota vehicles are purchased locally.

And Toyota Motor is notoriously strict on cost control.

This method is not a big problem among Japanese suppliers who are pursuing excellence.

But in the United States, in order to meet the cost target, it is entirely possible that people cut corners and materials.

Obviously, Atsuo Fukuichi knew about these situations.

"In this regard, people from the quality department have also gone to the supplier's site to confirm."

"This possibility cannot be completely ruled out, but I don't think the probability is very high."

When Kobayashi Zheming said this, Fukuichi Tokuo was not very happy.

"Then according to Director Kobayashi's intention, it's a design problem that the brake won't stop?"

"Several of our models share the same brake pedal and accelerator pedal. If this is really a design problem, it will require a large-scale recall."

"At that time, if we change the design, there will still be problems, and the situation will be even more troublesome."

When Atsuo Fukuichi said this, the pressure on Tetsuaki Kobayashi intensified.

"We spend so much money on advertisements in various media every year. Don't they tell us about this kind of negative news?"

Hearing the two capable subordinates arguing there, Zhang Fujifu felt even worse.

Now is the critical moment for Toyota to "catch up with Ford and super general purpose", but there is such a big mess here in the United States.

"President, normally, those newspapers that cooperate with us in advertising will say hello to us if they want to publish related negative reports."

"But this time it's a bit strange, the other party didn't make any moves."

"We also asked colleagues in the marketing department to communicate, but the attitude of the other party was very formulaic."

When Kobayashi Zheming said this, Fujio Zhang frowned immediately.

Being able to rise from an employee with no background to the position of president of Toyota Motor, Zhang Fujio's brain is definitely very useful.

From such a small detail, he felt that something was wrong.

There was an air of conspiracy in it.

"Xiaolin-san, according to your analysis, is the speed of public opinion's development of the 'brake door' this time normal?"

Although he had some guesses in his mind, Zhang Fujio didn't say it immediately.

"It's not normal, it's not normal at all." Zheming Xiaolin shook his head while saying, "Even Ford's 'Firestone Tire Door' some time ago, it took a long time for public opinion to ferment before it finally had the final effect."

"It's not like this time, in less than a week, it seems that the entire American people know about it."

"Judging from the feedback from dealers in various places, the number of customers in the sales store has dropped sharply."

"President, I think there may be competitors behind this matter who are fueling the flames."

"GM, Ford and Chrysler all have this motivation, and maybe even Honda, Nissan and Hyundai are involved."

When Kobayashi Zheming said this, Zhang Fujifu immediately said angrily, "You just realized that a competitor is involved in this matter?"

"It is inevitable that other manufacturers will contribute to the flames."

"What I want to know most is whether this matter is planned by a certain opponent at all."

When Fujio Zhang said this, Zheming Kobayashi immediately became nervous.

"President, no...you can't do that, can you?"

"No matter who does this kind of thing, it is a taboo in the industry."

If it is said that there are competitors who contributed to the flames after the Toyota accident, Kobayashi Zheming believes it.

But he still doesn't believe that the "brake door" was specially planned by someone.

"Don't overestimate America's opponents."

"The bottom line of their work is much lower than you imagined."

Zhang Fujio obviously has a better understanding of the situation in the United States.

However, this doesn't solve the problem.

"So what should we do now?"

"Cooperate well with the NHTSA investigation?"

Xiaolin Zheming is a little panicked now, not knowing how to deal with this situation.

Toyota has been developing in the United States for so many years, and this is the first time it has encountered such a crisis.

"Is it okay if you don't cooperate?"

"The attitude must be better."

"However, in the absence of evidence, mistakes that should not be admitted must not be admitted."

"The best way is for each department to analyze as soon as possible and find a few reasons that everyone can accept, such as a problem with the brake pads, or poor installation of the carpet next to it."

"It's also good to give consumers an explanation and give NHTSA a step down."

"Let this matter pass as soon as possible."

Zhang Fujio is very clear-headed.

It is certainly not possible to confront NHTSA head-on, but it is also impossible to fully admit mistakes.

It is undoubtedly the best to find a plan that everyone can step down.