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

‘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