Toyota Canada tries to separate from US problems

Just saying Toyota these days is akin to a dirty word. In fact, T is a scarlet letter in the automotive industry. With countless recalls and various operational problems mounting, to say Toyota has “issues” might be an understatement.

Toyota’s damaged reputation has begun to stretch across the globe for the once biggest automaker in the world. This represents a problem for other divisions of Toyota, like Toyota Canada, who have not seen the same problems as Toyota in the US. Yet because the brand name Toyota is becoming damaged goods, the unaffected are quickly becoming the affected.

Toyota Canada has been making certain that it’s sensitive to customer concerns. However, it’s also trying to clear the air that the automaker’s recent problems mostly do not concern Canadian customers, they are mostly US based problems.

"I think we've done some unusual things by industry standards, but we've done exactly what Toyota would normally do," stated Toyota Canada managing director Stephen Beatty.

One example is they recalled 3,300 Prius Hybrids over an inconsistent brake feel. This was not the same as the Prius recall in the US, where safety concerns were at risk. This concern was not hazardous. However, Toyota Canada recalled them to show they were being sensitive to customer concerns.

Still, it’s been tough for Toyota Canada to shed the ugly image Toyota as a whole has gotten in light of recent events. "Unfortunately, we live in a global media environment today, and we're struggling in part with the fact that there were other issues related to floor mats in the U.S. that have influenced the coverage of the Canadian situation,” says Beatty to the Canadian Press.

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