Toyota and Takata’s Airbag Controversy
In recent events, Toyota has begun a recall of over thirty-four million cars of different makes and models. The recall initiated due to faulty airbags made by Japanese corporation known as Takata. The issue with these airbags lies within the inflator and the propellant devices, which cause them to improperly deploy and explode. The explosion shoots metal fragments into occupants and has already killed fourteen in the United States alone. Unfortunately, one of our group members has had the misfortune of owning a car with Takata’s dysfunctional airbag. In his experience, he contacted Toyota on the issue, in which their response was; “The parts to replace the inflator are not yet available.” When he asked what he should do about his passenger side airbag, he was told to simply “not carry any passengers.” This was well over a year ago, and no progress has been made on the issue as far as getting replacement parts for the car’s airbag. Several whistle blowers have come out and given testimonies saying that Toyota had bribed them to hide evidence pertaining to the defective products. In fact, not only were they covering up their purchase of faulty airbags because they were cheaper, but when customers came in to get their airbags replaced the company would re-use faulty airbags that had new barcodes on them. Ironically, Toyota lost millions making an unethical business decision in an effort to save money. Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a persons’ or group behavior. …show more content…
Toyota’s ethics has led to a downfall due to their issues involving their airbags, according to the text; ethics can affect a business greatly. Ethics can affect a business’s profit, leadership, reputation, and strategy. The issue involving the airbags has been known for years, but Toyota has not acted on this issue regardless of the fact that their customers are in danger. Personally if I had to think of what the executive’s mind set is during this situation: “It doesn’t really hurt anyone” or “We’ll wait until the lawyers tell us it’s wrong”. Of course at this point I would hope that the lawyers would have said something by now, while they have had a recall on some of their models. However, there are still models out there that require new airbags, but Toyota refuses to give them their airbags with their reasoning being that they do not have sufficient enough supplies in order to carry out the repairs. Depending on the model and the amount of airbags needed it could cost someone between $1,000 – $6,000, this would be great lost in profit for Toyota, however this would help improve their reputation. Which would also help bring more customers, which could make up for the profit used to correct this horrible mistake. According to an OSHA Hazard Information Automobile Air Bag Safety article, Thomas J. Shepich (director of Technical Support) explained “air bags are inflated by nitrogen gas which is produced by the highly toxic chemical, sodium azide. However, the sodium azide is completely consumed by this reaction. After deflation of the bag, some irritant dusts including sodium hydroxide, are released. NHTSA advises that rescue personnel wear gloves and eye protection for this situation, the same way Takata’s airbags are produced.” Autovil claims they do not operate with these chemicals. In a New York Times article Thomas Jonsson, a spokesman for Autoliv, explains the difference between Takata and Autovil air bag chemicals “Autoliv does not use ammonium nitrate in its airbags... Instead, …show more content…
For example, failing to notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a dangerous pedal defect for almost four months this is the very reason why NHTSA enacted the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966. The NHTSA wanted to address the underlying factors of Toyota bring a safe car to the market and making sure that all the car parts meet vehicle safety standards like the airbags and gas pedals. The main parties that were involved in the need of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act are the car owners and the NHTSA. Because they wanted to know that they were buying reliable cars, safe cars and holding big car manufacturers like Toyota to their
In recent events, Toyota has begun a recall of over thirty-four million cars of different makes and models. The recall initiated due to faulty airbags made by Japanese corporation known as Takata. The issue with these airbags lies within the inflator and the propellant devices, which cause them to improperly deploy and explode. The explosion shoots metal fragments into occupants and has already killed fourteen in the United States alone. Unfortunately, one of our group members has had the misfortune of owning a car with Takata’s dysfunctional airbag. In his experience, he contacted Toyota on the issue, in which their response was; “The parts to replace the inflator are not yet available.” When he asked what he should do about his passenger side airbag, he was told to simply “not carry any passengers.” This was well over a year ago, and no progress has been made on the issue as far as getting replacement parts for the car’s airbag. Several whistle blowers have come out and given testimonies saying that Toyota had bribed them to hide evidence pertaining to the defective products. In fact, not only were they covering up their purchase of faulty airbags because they were cheaper, but when customers came in to get their airbags replaced the company would re-use faulty airbags that had new barcodes on them. Ironically, Toyota lost millions making an unethical business decision in an effort to save money. Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a persons’ or group behavior. …show more content…
Toyota’s ethics has led to a downfall due to their issues involving their airbags, according to the text; ethics can affect a business greatly. Ethics can affect a business’s profit, leadership, reputation, and strategy. The issue involving the airbags has been known for years, but Toyota has not acted on this issue regardless of the fact that their customers are in danger. Personally if I had to think of what the executive’s mind set is during this situation: “It doesn’t really hurt anyone” or “We’ll wait until the lawyers tell us it’s wrong”. Of course at this point I would hope that the lawyers would have said something by now, while they have had a recall on some of their models. However, there are still models out there that require new airbags, but Toyota refuses to give them their airbags with their reasoning being that they do not have sufficient enough supplies in order to carry out the repairs. Depending on the model and the amount of airbags needed it could cost someone between $1,000 – $6,000, this would be great lost in profit for Toyota, however this would help improve their reputation. Which would also help bring more customers, which could make up for the profit used to correct this horrible mistake. According to an OSHA Hazard Information Automobile Air Bag Safety article, Thomas J. Shepich (director of Technical Support) explained “air bags are inflated by nitrogen gas which is produced by the highly toxic chemical, sodium azide. However, the sodium azide is completely consumed by this reaction. After deflation of the bag, some irritant dusts including sodium hydroxide, are released. NHTSA advises that rescue personnel wear gloves and eye protection for this situation, the same way Takata’s airbags are produced.” Autovil claims they do not operate with these chemicals. In a New York Times article Thomas Jonsson, a spokesman for Autoliv, explains the difference between Takata and Autovil air bag chemicals “Autoliv does not use ammonium nitrate in its airbags... Instead, …show more content…
For example, failing to notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a dangerous pedal defect for almost four months this is the very reason why NHTSA enacted the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966. The NHTSA wanted to address the underlying factors of Toyota bring a safe car to the market and making sure that all the car parts meet vehicle safety standards like the airbags and gas pedals. The main parties that were involved in the need of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act are the car owners and the NHTSA. Because they wanted to know that they were buying reliable cars, safe cars and holding big car manufacturers like Toyota to their