On it website, Toyota announced it agreed to pay $1.2 billion in connection with the government’s investigation into “the communications and decision-making processes related to potential ‘sticking’ accelerator pedals and floor mat entrapment.”
The chief legal officer of Toyota Motor North America points out the company took full responsibility “for any concerns our actions may have caused customers, and we rededicated ourselves to earning their trust.”
The car company explains it’s made fundamental changes and lists them.
Meanwhile, the United States Attorney’s Office says Toyota misled consumers and regulators about safety issues. The U.S. Attorney adds the company made “deceptive statements.” Attorney General Eric Holder says Toyota “gave inaccurate facts to Members of Congress.” The Manhattan U.S. Attorney even states Toyota “cared more about savings than safety and more about its own brand and bottom line than the truth.” The U.S. Attorney’s news release is more than 3500 words and details its findings.
On one hand, Toyota’s statement takes the proper road in detailing how the company has changed and how those changes place a supreme focus on consumer safety issues. On the other hand, the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s news release indicates this is all about a much simpler concept: morals.
These days, companies and their executives often excel at apologies and listing changes. Sometimes those changes are genuine. Sometimes they are more about public relations and mitigating damage. No matter how a business re-paints its image, the few people who actually do the driving ultimately determine a company’s culture.
Perhaps Toyota believes the government’s conclusions and descriptions are too harsh. But in cases such as this, we prefer, for purposes stretching beyond public relations, that companies send out news releases that address their corporate culture and one of the most basic lessons of life: doing the right thing. That approach is more abstract and daring than listing practical steps, but such steps mean much more if we believe people behind the wheel are taking the high road.