Page 221 - Toyota Under Fire

TOYOT A UNDER FIRE

MEASURE RESULTS
Customer Edmunds’s cleaned version of the NHTSA
complaints database showed that complaint levels for SUA
dropped 80 percent within months of February
2010 and that Toyota soon rose to second in
terms of fewest complaints per 100,000 vehicles.
Quality and Toyota’s place at the top of industry awards lists
safety was restored by the fall of 2010. Toyota topped
all automakers in end-of-year awards, including
those from Polk, Kiplinger’s, the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety, Consumer Reports,
Intellichoice, and Motorist Choice.

Net income is summarized in Figure 4.2. We can see the
depths of the losses in the midst of the global recession in late 2008
to early 2009, but by the third quarter of 2009, income had turned
from negative to positive, and despite a dip in early 2010, at the worst
of the recall crisis, Toyota has made money every quarter since.
The hit to Toyota’s stock price was also temporary. The stock had
risen to its highest point since the recession in January 2010, $91
a share. With the negative publicity after the sticky pedal recall, the
price had dropped to $72 a share by February 4, a 21 percent drop,
and fell to a low point of $68 a share in August. By February 2011, a
day after the NASA report was released, the stock had climbed back
to almost $89 a share and as of February 25 had exceded $93 a
share. Of course, the volatility in the stock price is affected by many
macroeconomic factors, but it is a good indicator that the market
believes the company is headed decisively in the right direction.
One of the most telling statistics relates to the overall brand
perception of Toyota—and the fact that Toyota’s history insulated
it from a great deal of the potential damage from the crisis. Drivers

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