The stuck brake pedal fiasco may be far behind Toyota, but the Japanese automaker is still making changes to avoid a similar recurrence. Once the scandal blew over, the automaker realized its management structure had prevented it from noticing there was a problem until it was too late. So now American execs will have more power than ever.
Yoshi Inaba, the highest ranking executive in North America, said the company has adopted a new research and development system where Japan will have less input.
In the past, vehicles exclusive to the North American market needed to be inspected by a chief engineer, and the sales and marketing departments had to go through several Japanese channels first.
But that’s all in the past now. The Avalon, Venza, Sienna, Tacoma and Tundra, sold only in North America, are now the exclusive responsibility of Canadian and U.S. executives.
The head office in Japan will obviously still have authority in terms of profitability and losses, but will no longer be involved in product development, which should allow the Canadian and American divisions to react faster to market changes and position themselves better against the competition.
It’s still too soon to tell if the decision will prove profitable. Toyota has clearly learned its lesson after the recent debacle and is doing everything in its power to prevent the same mistakes from happening again.
Source : Automotive News
Yoshi Inaba, the highest ranking executive in North America, said the company has adopted a new research and development system where Japan will have less input.
In the past, vehicles exclusive to the North American market needed to be inspected by a chief engineer, and the sales and marketing departments had to go through several Japanese channels first.
But that’s all in the past now. The Avalon, Venza, Sienna, Tacoma and Tundra, sold only in North America, are now the exclusive responsibility of Canadian and U.S. executives.
The head office in Japan will obviously still have authority in terms of profitability and losses, but will no longer be involved in product development, which should allow the Canadian and American divisions to react faster to market changes and position themselves better against the competition.
It’s still too soon to tell if the decision will prove profitable. Toyota has clearly learned its lesson after the recent debacle and is doing everything in its power to prevent the same mistakes from happening again.
Source : Automotive News