Toyota has been a consistent reliable brand to drive, with diversified top selling models such as the Camry sedan, the subcompact Corolla, and the semi-environmentally conscious gas/electric hybrid Prius. Growing up, my family were loyal Toyota fans.
However, recently, I’ve noticed a sharp perceived decrease in the quality of Toyota vehicles. More recalls, more potential client calls under the Texas lemon law, more arbitrations with NCDS, and more complaints about car problems from acquaintances with preowned/used Toyota cars.
On Christmas day (Tuesday, December 25, 2007), Toyota announces that it plans to sell 9.85 million cars worldwide in 2008. According to most analysts, this figure is quite ambiguous due to concerns of a cooling U.S. auto market and a possible recession in the upcoming year.
If Toyota is successful in this endeavor, then it might permanently de-thrown General Motors (GM) in becoming the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. This year (2007), Toyota approximates that it will sell 9.36 million vehicles, as compared to GM’s estimated 9.3 million.
It leads me to speculate,…will there be more lemon and defective cars driving on the roads now that Toyota is planning on producing more cars? Although I do not have a crystal ball, my hunch tells me that this will be an inevitable progression, unless Toyota prioritizes its quality control as aggressively as its intention to becoming the world’s leading automobile manufacturer. We will wait for 2008 to come and speak for itself…