Question of the Day: Should Toyota’s CEO resign his position?

Posted: Feb 11, 2010
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‘No-show Akio’ – that was the nickname given to Toyota’s CEO when he failed to make a public apology at the beginning of Toyota’s recent recall issues. A day after that nickname made it big in the media, Akio Toyoda quickly scheduled a last minute press conference apologizing to customers. Toyoda is even said to be planning a trip to the United States in the upcoming days.

However, some experts aren’t buying it. According to William Peek over at BusinessWeek, Toyoda should resign his position as CEO.

Peek writes:

“He must go not because of the company”s biggest-ever and growing recall, but to take responsibility for how pathetically he is handling the crisis. Thanks to unsteady leadership, Toyota”s market value has lost the equivalent of Latvia”s annual gross domestic product since Jan. 21. Last week”s hastily arranged press conference with Toyoda changed nothing. This is still a textbook case of how not to tackle a public-relations debacle. Toyota”s strategy — denial, downplaying problems, avoiding the media — turned a safety problem into a scandal that M.B.A. students will study for years. It also sheds light on where Japan finds itself in 2010.”

So what do you think? Should Toyoda resign? Let us know in the comments section after the jump.

- By: Omar Rana


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  • Pat

    i dont think Toyoda needs to step down because the recalls aren't his fault and most the models that were recalled were produced before his time. however, i do think Toyota has screwed up its quality and reliability ratings and yeah people are like “oh everyone has recalls get over it” but not everyone has over 9 million recalls with over 3 different issues (4 including the camry).

  • Anguirus

    Umm … didn't he just take office? Why should he resign?

  • meraboy

    he should, NOT because most the models that were recalled were produced before his time; it's the way “No-show Akio” handle the situation –denial, downplaying problems, avoiding the media–considering the size of the recalls, not 80 or 800 thousand, it's 8 MILLION (by now it's 9 million)!

  • weslee99

    True that these vehicles were designed before his time. And he did not respond to the public immediately (of course given the sizable volume of the cars he did not even have a hand in designing). It was a PR failure and not Toyoda's. Anyway, he's doing now what he should have done earlier so he's catching up. Also, Toyota as a carmaker has not been paying attention to quality which is what happens when you focus too much on volume. But I think Toyota will stand the test of time and will rebound with a vengeance. The Japanese are known to be constantly improving their products even if current models are selling well. As to other carmakers, now is their time to shine and they should not screw it up.

  • http://twitter.com/InfoNow408 Scott Thomas

    I heard about the pedal recall, but now a hybrid recall, the honda airbag recall and to think I could have had no idea if it affected my NON toyota car good thing I found more info here http://www.carpedalrecall.com
    searched for my make, model, year and found my car had been recalled so look out! it could save a life maybe yours

    don't understand how serious or what the car pedal recall is about?
    just watch this video at the end it also shows how to stop a out of control car very useful
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGe3EOJ-CMY

  • johnarbison

    It not as if he just started with Toyota. He's been there all his working life. He should resign as a gesture of responsibility.

  • TOYODA MUST RESIGN

    Toyoda Must Resign
    It has become increasingly obvious that Akio Toyoda is incapable of managing Toyota through its messy crisis. The ultimate magnitude of this crisis is yet to be determined, owing largely to Toyoda's indecisiveness, unwillingness to come clean on the facts or respond in a proactive manner, daily flip-flops on positions, and apparent lack of appreciation for his customer base outside Japan. By now, his grandfather is certainly squirming in his grave. Toyota, once considered a great company achieving magnificent growth and prowess, is now led by a(n incompetent) president who has lost (or perhaps has never had) his compass of leadership. Rather than further embarrass his company, his name, and his people, he should do the honorable thing, by Japanese standards, and resign. Customers, around the globe, have lost confidence in Toyota. To regain this confidence and respect in Toyota, the new leadership must first demonstrate a sea-change in approach to vehicle quality transparency. To reduce the anxiety of current owners (and prevent the further rapid market value deterioration of their vehicles), the same fail-safes and retrofits provided by Toyota for new vehicles and those under recent recall MUST BE implemented for all Toyota vehicles with similar x-by-wire technology.