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Japan’s media blast auto firms on recalls
Japanese media on Sunday urged domestic carmakers to restore their reputation for "quality and safety" following Toyota's massive recall of cars worldwide because of faulty accelerator pedals.
Japanese media on Sunday urged domestic carmakers to restore their reputation for "quality and safety" following Toyota's massive recall of cars worldwide because of faulty accelerator pedals.
"The 'myth of quality' at a crossroads," a headline in the business daily Nikkei said a day after Honda joined Toyota in recalling cars worldwide as it cited a potential fire risk linked to a window switch problem.
"Japanese automakers should keep in mind that quality and safety form the foundations of public trust in the Japanese way of manufacturing," the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun said in an editorial.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda had on Friday apologised for the recall. “We’re extremely sorry to have made customers uneasy,” Toyoda had said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Media blamed the rash of recalls on standardised use of parts across models and countries for cost-cutting purposes.
Toyota had recalled 2.3 million cars in the US, 75,000 in China and nearly 2 million in Europe.
On Saturday, PSA Peugeot Citroen said it was recalling 100,000 Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 models made in a joint venture with Toyota in the Czech Republic.
