Progress Report: Expanded Leadership in Safety & Innovation, Even Stronger Focus on Customers

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Updated: May 16, 2011

Toyota has continued to take major steps to become an even more responsive, customer-focused organization – and to strengthen its leadership in automotive quality, safety and innovation.

Sweeping Product Innovations & Continued Environmental Leadership                                                                                                                                                                  

•         Ten new or updated models this year – including the new Prius v – with six new hybrid vehicles to market by 2012 – including the plug-in electric hybrid Prius

•         A zero emission Toyota RAV4 electric vehicle, produced with California’s Tesla Motors, due next year

•         New partnership with Microsoft to provide affordable, advanced vehicle “telematics”

•         One millionth Prius sold in the U.S. – more than 3 million sold worldwide

 

Safe Cars Made Even Safer                                                                                                                          

•         Star Safety System standard on all new vehicles, includes Smart Stop Technology brake override system

•         Enhanced Event Data Recorders in all 2011 model year vehicles

•         $50 million investment to launch new Safety Research Center in MI, focused on reducing traffic fatalities

 

Swift, Decisive Action on Quality and Safety 

•         New North American management structure with a greater voice in safety decisions

•         SMART Teams of engineers and field technicians conduct onsite inspections anywhere in the U.S.

•         Six new Product Quality Field Offices being established throughout North America

 

A Transformation in Global Quality Assurance and More Local Autonomy

 

•         Chief Safety Technology Officer and 1,000 Toyota engineers assigned to component design and quality

•         Improved supplier quality controls and strengthened monitoring of customer concerns

•         Chief Quality Officer for North America with a direct line to Akio Toyoda – More Americans now leading Toyota plants in the U.S.

 

Extraordinary Technical Scrutiny

•         Exhaustive 10-month study by NASA and NHTSA found no electronic cause for sudden acceleration

•         Unprecedented independent engineering reviews by the National Academy of Sciences and Exponent

•         SMART Team evaluations have found no evidence of unintended acceleration due to electronic problems

 

Continued Economic and Community Impact

•         Nearly 200,000 American jobs, including 30,000 direct plus nearly 170,000 more at dealers and suppliers

•         A total of 13 plants in North America producing 12 different vehicles and various engines

•         No layoffs of full-time employees at Toyota’s manufacturing plants, despite the economic downturn and disaster in Japan

•         Significant U.S. manufacturing investment continues – total direct U.S. investments now approx. $18 billion – new plant in Mississippi to open this Fall

•         Large U.S. R&D presence, including 1,000 employed at the Toyota Technical Center in Michigan

•         More than $500 million in philanthropic support contributed in U.S. since 1991

 

Continued Support from Independent Experts and Customers

•         Best selling retail brand in America in 2010 with Camry the #1 selling car in the U.S.

•         Nine Toyota vehicles named “top safety picks” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

•         Seventeen vehicles rated “Most Reliable” by Consumer Reports – more than any other manufacturer

•         Four of top 10 spots on Kelley Blue Book’s list of Best Resale Values – no other company had more than two

•         Six segment awards in the 2010 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study and seven top awards in J.D. Power’s 2011 Vehicle Dependability Survey – both are more than any other full line manufacturer

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