At Toyota, we’ve taken major steps to become a more responsive, safety-focused organization. Here are some of the actions we’ve taken to be an industry leader in quality and safety:
  1. Established a Special Committee for Global Quality under the direction of Global President Akio Toyoda to reexamine all aspects of quality assurance
  2. Star Safety System now standard across all lineups
  3. Making SmartStop Technology brake override system standard on all new models by the end of 2010
  4. Created SMART Teams to help quickly investigate reports of unintended acceleration
  5. Established independent Quality Advisory Panel – chaired by former U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater
  6. Appointed Chief Quality Officer for North America – Steve St. Angelo
  7. Appointed Chief Safety Executive for North America – Dino Triantafyllos
  8. Increasing the use of Event Data Recorder (“black boxes”) in our cars for better data collection and providing new EDR readers to government safety regulators
  9. Set up Design Quality Innovation Division in Japan and transferred 1,000 engineers to focus on design of components and other quality issues
  10. Created a new team of 100 engineers to audit vehicle quality by studying use by customers
  11. Expanded product development cycle by 4 weeks to help ensure high quality/safety
  12. Developed next-generation virtual test dummy to help guard against internal organ damage in the event of an accident – licensing to other automakers and universities
  13. Refined our global Early Detection, Early Resolution (EDER) system to include a wider variety of sources to help monitor quality/safety, including customer calls, web mentions and government databases
  14. Appointed 4 North American leaders to join 5 others as presidents of plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, providing more regional autonomy
  15. Establishing 6 additional Product Quality Field Offices throughout North America to improve our ability to detect and respond to customer and quality issues
  16. Opened our electronic technology to an unprecedented level of review by outside experts, including NASA, the National Academy of Sciences and engineering firm Exponent
 
Other Steps We Are Taking to Help Ensure Quality and Safety
  • Toyota uses 8 electromagnetic testing chambers in Japan and is building one in the U.S.
  • Toyota applies medical CT-scan technology to find issues smaller than a human hair in chips
  • Toyota conducts thousands of virtual simulations and 1,600 actual vehicle crash tests in Toyota and affiliate facilities each year 
  • Toyota tests its electronic control units with 200 V/m of electricity to check their accuracy and durability in various areas, including locations near street power lines and TV towers
  • Toyota also puts its electronic control units through “thermal shock” treatments ranging from minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit to a scorching 230 degrees
  • Completed more than 35 million miles of electronic throttle control running tests on 2005 through 2010 Toyota models.
 
Key Accolades Toyota Has Won in 2010
  • Won 7 IIHS “top safety” picks
  • Toyota Camry was ranked the most “American-made” vehicle in the U.S. for the 2nd year by Cars.com and Toyota has more vehicles on the “Top 10” list than any other automaker
  • 2010 JD Power IQS – 6 segment awards (more than any manufacturer); Lexus LS “most trouble-free vehicle in US”; No. 1-rated plant in North America
  • 2010 JD Power VDS – 5 segment winners – more than any other automaker

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