Question 5:

"Toyota lost its way..."

Toyota Motor Corporation, the Japanese car maker, has built its reputation on manufacturing reliable cars. However, between November 2009 and January 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation was forced to recall their cars due to "sticking" pedals causing unintended vehicle acceleration, resulting in well-published road accidents. The market repercussions were severe with significant loss of sales. More importantly, however, the brand's core competency Toyota's success was built upon, its reputation for product's reliability, was affected where it mattered the most to its customers - their safety.

It appears though that Toyota did not learn from its mistakes. In 2016, Toyota Motor Corporation announced that it would be recalling 1.7 million vehicles worldwide for potentially faulty Takata airbag inflators as part of a multi-year industry recall campaign. Takata airbags were outsourced to a Japanese auto supplier Takata. Some of its air bags had a tendency to spray shrapnel when deployed.

In 2020, Toyota Motor Corporation again announced a recall of some of its most popular cars due to faulty fuel pumps, which might suddenly stop operating.

Required

1. Identify four types of individual cost of quality activities (for example - testing) that you would recommend for the management of Toyota to invest in and briefly discuss why you would recommend these particular activities.