Car dealers up and down the country have all had a rough ride when it comes to Toyota vehicles this year. The trusted and reliable car manufacturer unfortunately had to recall thousands of vehicles due to a sticking accelerator pedal. I was a huge operation that inconvenienced many Toyota owners and dealerships not just in the UK, but around the world. Thankfully the firm identified the problem before any incidents occurred and anyone was injured in accidents due to the issue. It is now that car dealerships are beginning to get back on track with Toyota sales and can begin to gain the trust of the public once again. This however will not be an easy task; naturally, people are going to be wary of purchasing a Toyota, especially if they have never owned one before.
Previous owners of Toyota vehicles will know that it is a reliable and heard wearing brand, and few will have been disillusioned by the recent problems. In fact, some Toyota customers are saying that they are more impressed by the brand after they have shown that they can deal with problems effectively. Generally speaking, people are not bothered by the problem itself, but how it is dealt with by the offending party. In this case, Toyota seemed to deal with the problem quite well. Information was freely available on its website, a helpline was set up and all Toyota car dealers were informed and ready for the panicking customers. All problem vehicles were fixed for free and in a prompt fashion. Recall letters were sent out informing those who may not have heard that their car was on the list. All in all, it was dealt with in an organized and understated fashion.
Of course a problem on such a massive scale as this is hard to put right however you go about it, and Toyota unfortunately lost a lot of money in the process. Jobs were cut in the UK and the value of Toyota shares decreased dramatically. Trust in Toyota has hit an all time low, even with the Toyota fans staying loyal to the brand. This being said however, Toyota did actually make a profit in the few months during and after the recall problem, which was a surprise as they had made a loss at the same time in the previous year. Car dealers had obviously done a good job in selling Toyota vehicles to the unconvinced public.
Now that the recall fiasco has mostly blown over, it is time for Toyota as a company and Toyota car dealers to try and rebuild the success of the brand. Toyota are now offering a choice of either five years warranty or three years of free servicing when you buy a brand new Toyota. These are the tools of rebuilding trust, but Toyota has a long way to go until it can reach the reputation that it once held in the UK and around the world.
