Everybody seems surprised at Toyota's intense quality problems. In the past three years, prestigious magazines like Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and Consumer Reports all went out of their way to praise Toyota.

But should they have been asleep at the wheel? Wasn't there all kinds of data available which showed the sharp downward decline in Toyota manufacturing and engineering quality since the retirement of Eiji Toyoda as chairman in 1994? Wasn’t everybody and his brother at Toyota abandoning the brilliant quality systems created by Eiji?

If you doubt this, just read the article I posted February 22, 2007, three years ago:

TEARS OVER TOYOTA

High above planet earth, layered among the cumulus clouds, tears are filling the private cloud of Eiji Toyoda, the man who founded the Toyota Motor Car Company.

Toyoda is crying over the news of his beloved Toyotas on earth.

First he got some good news: Toyota would make more cars than General Motors this year and become the world's largest car company.

Then he got the bad news: Toyota would make more bad cars than General Motors and become the world's leading producer of bad cars. Toyotas, filled with defects, are reaching many consumers in America and Japan.

"Who are these people who are ruining the quality reputation I built at Toyota?" cries Toyoda.

"Why are they allowing raw, untrained workers to make Toyotas? When I ran things, I spent one whole day each month in a factory, inspecting parts on the line to make sure quality was perfect. And to signal everyone from boss to janitor that quality was the key to our growing volume. I am afraid that current management thinks a plant is the green thing in the corner of the office.

"And if they had to expand so rapidly, why didn't they use my lead worker program where one experienced worker leads a team of four inexperienced workers? He could catch mistakes before they hurt our quality. But they tell me that the lead worker program was cut to save money. Save money? Sell our quality reputation to save money? Do these people know the cost of everything but the value of nothing? Do they not realize that is precisely the attitude which has almost killed General Motors and Ford?

"I am mortified that Toyota is now recalling 533,000 Tundra pickup trucks and Sequoia sports utility vehicles because of steering mistakes. There have already been 11 accidents and six injuries. It's a miracle that nobody has been killed yet. All because we don't seem to know how to make or buy a proper ball joint? Shame.

"And this is the second recall. In 2005 we had to recall 775,000 pickups and SUVs for the same kind of problem. When you add in all the car defects we had, Toyota had to recall 2.2 million cars worldwide. If I were still on earth, there would be many people falling on their swords.

"Falling on swords? Now there's an idea! A little extreme, but Toyota management could use a 'quality through Hari Kari' program.

"Perhaps I will signal it with little lightning storm."

(click here for a printable version of this article)