“There’s been a lot of talk about the recall.”

Jim Lentz has his hands full lately thanks to his title of President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. If you’ve watched or read the news via any credible media outlet the past couple of weeks, it’s been hard to ignore the catastrophic Quality Assurance (QA) falters of Toyota Motors. To date, 11, yes, 11 Toyota vehicles have been issued recalls, and the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood even has gone as far as to suggest that owners of the recalled vehicles cease use and take them to a dealer for repair immediately. [video link] The United States Transportation Department has formally opened an investigation into brake problems on the company’s Prius line, what the AP describes as “the latest in a series of safety troubles at Toyota that have confused drivers and strained the Japanese automaker’s relationship with U.S. regulators.”

First it was the aptly-named “Floor Mat Entrapment” recall where certain floor mat designs would entrap the accelerator pedals in nine Toyota models (dating as far back to 2004 to the present).

Then there was the “Pedal” recall to solve the issue of uncontrolled and unsolicited sticking pedals that would cause the car to accelerate beyond what the driver’s expectation.

And now the company’s flagship Prius line of cars is coming under fire for brake problems that can be blamed for a handful of accidents in North America already. The problem with the Hybrid line is that there can be a split-second delay in communication between the cars actual brakes and the motors that help slow the car down, motors that also produce an electrical current to charge the car’s main battery. Toyota has already addressed the issue in Prius vehicles coming off the production line as of late, citing on-going quality assurance tests for the computer programming change in newly assembled Prius’.

The company is exhausting all efforts, though, to regain not only the approval of transportation safety boards and regulators in North America, Japan, and across the world, but to regain the confidence of its consumers. We’ve seen Jim Lentz’s media tour already, apologizing to the American consumers and promising increased quality control and oversight.  [video and more after the break]

Toyota is extending hours of its dealerships, keeping some service centers open 24/7 until the company is confident they have resolved all outstanding quality assurance and safety concerns with its lineup of vehicles. For up-to-date information, visit www.toyota.com/recall for more information.

All of this bad publicity comes at an unfortunate time for the Japanese automaker. Amidst the worst economic downturn and consequently, lackluster automotive sales, the news of such a massive recall, already extending to over 4+ million vehicles, is damaging to the Toyota brand and to its bottom line. The company will likely spend billions fixing it’s mistakes over the course of 2010 and perhaps beyond. But this kind of brand trouble isn’t new for automakers. Remember the American automakers bailout of 2009? And 2008? [Read Where's the Responsibility? and At What Cost?] GM, Chrysler, and Ford were all facing financial troubles, and their image, as well as their companies, almost took a dive to oblivion.

What are these three companies doing today? GM filed for bankruptcy protection and re-emerged leaner and hopefully meaner than before, less than two months later. Chrysler similarly filed for bankruptcy to liquidate billions in debt and monies owed, including more than $7 billion in tax dollar bailout funds it received in 2009 from the federal government. Ford escaped largely unscathed, refusing bailout money and today its sales are increasing and the company regaining momentum.

So why don’t we see any American automaker advertising campaigns in light of the recent troubles for Toyota? The “Big Three” should be taking this opportunity to resurrect their brand images, to capture some market share from Toyota consumers. With such large safety concerns surrounding Toyota vehicles, consumers may consider alternatives, if they are given a reason to. Get with you ad agencies GM (Ford and Chrysler too). Make your case. Sell your product. Sell your brand.

How Toyota can fix its troubles [CNNMoney]

[image courtesy of Getty via CNN]

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