Toyota may no longer be the company it was! May be the company is at the end of too much media scrutiny and rightly so taking into account the numerous lives that have been lost due to the faulty design of the cars.
First,Toyota should have acknowledged the problem long ago. Worries of brand image loss and economics forced them not to do so. Eventually they had to recall a record 7 million autos and fix mainly two problems - 1.) A sticky gas pedal and 2.) an inappropriately designed floor mat. The gas pedal remains in half throttle and is resisted from coming back to its idle position even when not depressed. The floor mat interferes or entraps the gas pedal. Toyota like any other auto manufacturing company is responsible for the production and sale of safe automobiles. The plaintiffs charge that Toyota failed to incorporate safety measures should also be upheld as the company did not install a "brake override system" as an additional measure.The brake override system cuts off the engine power in the event of a simultaneous depression of the gas pedal and brake.
If one notices Toyota has been one company which has shelled out new car designs every year which brings us to the impact of design on the reliability of the automobile. New sleek designs may certainly be effective in giving a short commercial boost but in the long run one cannot compromise on reliability.
Creating reliable products is never easy. People keep sidelining American engineering and prefer its glamorous Asian counterparts. It may not be that long when americans prefer their own car make. The Consumer Report evaluations cement this trend further. Ford motor's Focus and Fusion outperformed products from Toyota and Honda. Over the years companies like Ford, GM and Chrysler dedicated themselves to boost quality and prioritized them over reliability. Yet,they play catch up with the Japanese but not for long. Ford has set certain guidelines as far as their design and manufacturing is concerned. It sticks with a model that is already competitive and concentrates on its processes. Communication between designers and manufacturers is critical. Never assume the obvious,the workers on the shop floor are not mind readers and so what is designed and what actually transpires on the shop floor needs to be worked upon. High reliability cannot be achieved by tight part tolerances or perfect components. Compatibility of two good components, knowing the appropriate standards, tracking the performance of the vendors and suppliers can go a long way in improving reliability.
Toyota should take a leaf out of American car companies and incorporate these guidelines. Somehow in the race for glory, this amazing company wandered off from its path.
Consumers today are game for sleeker and "cooler" designs but they would place the performance, reliability, safety, and overall efficiency of the automobile at a higher level. Auto designers should anticipate failure modes, improve the already existing system and slowly but surely they would win the race.
Toyota, are you listening?
Labels: • Mechanical Engineering, lubbock, machine, maryland, neelakanta, sharath, technical, texas tech, ttu
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