Toyota 2010 by Arthur Swersey In winter 2010, the Toyota Motor Corporation faced a crisis. Following a number at highly publicized accidents Involving Toyota vehicles. the company was forced to recall millions oi cars with potentially deadly defects. Toyota shut down production at several of its North American plants. halted sales of some of its most popular models. and issued a public apology. Customers fled the showrooms. and Toyota sales in the LLB. dropped 16 per cent In January 2010. Additionally. the US. government promised to get involved as both the Obama administration and Congress threatened investigations. Observers were astonished. Toyota had built a reputation for the reliability of Its automobiles. Over a period of decades. the company had pioneered lean manufacturing and a stringent quality control system that had become the envy of the world. Building on this success. In the late 1990s, Toyota's leadership had set a goal of capturing a 15 per cent share of the world auto market. From 2000 to 2005. Toyota had steadily expanded Its global manufacturing capacity and had also worked to reduce costs by benchmarking to Chinese manufacturers. The strategy seemed to work. By 2005. Toyota was worth more than the BIg Three American car companies put together. and The Economist called it \"the car company In front". By 200?. Toyota achieved its goal of becoming the largest car manufacturer In the world. However. at the end ofthe decade. signicant problems appeared. In the mid2000s. the number of recalls on Toyota vehicles began to increase. The company's quality rankings slipped. and In 200? its vehicles were downgraded by Consumer Reports. By 2009. Toyota recalls affected overer million vehicles in the United States alone. In Oeoemberot 2009. The Economist. the same magazine that had lauded the company just ve years earlier. now declared on its cover \"Toyota slips up." Other publications followed suit with equally prominent stories about slipping quality at Toyota. The New York Times published a front-page story under the headline 'Toyota's slow awakening to a deadly problem,\" and The Wall street journal pronounced. \"Toyota is unable to hit the brakes on the crisis.\" During January 2010. broadcast news outlets featured needy daily updates on Toyota's woes. Auto industry analysts suggested that the company's rapid expansion had strained Toyota's ability to control its quality. In winter 2010, the company that had become one ofthe great success stories of the automobile industry faced a crisis that could cost it billions of dollars and threaten its survival. Observers wondered what. if anything. the company could do to restore the quality of its products and Its reputation for reliability. Source: woddcat.orgiidentitlesllocn-n [Accessed 2Bl11l2020} Answer ALL the questions in this section. Question 1 {25 Marks] With reference to the article above and further research conducted. discuss the nature of crises faced by Toyota and the impact that the Incident had on the brand. Question 2 {25 llsrks} Consider yourself as the marketing director of Toyota. analyse the marketing strategy you could have employed to regain the company's market share. Question 3 {25 llsrks] Based on the article above and your exteded research. outline the way Toyota handled the crises. Thereafter. in your opinion describe the steps Toyota could have taken to reduce the detection rate by its consumers after the widespread news of the crisis Question 4 {25 Hsrks] Analyse the factors that Toyota might have considered in doing business globally and explain some of the risks that might threaten Toyota as a global business