Chapter 6 Chapter 05 Toyota War: The American Version of "Latent"
Toyota's attention has risen sharply.What's wrong with Toyota?
The real purpose of the sniping is to clear the way for American cars.
The American version of "Yu Zecheng" - Lawyer Biller.
The United States disdains Toyota's tears, will the same sniping be aimed at us?
Readers, please think about why the Toyota incident happened?Do you really believe America's lies that it's all due to Toyota's quality problems?how can that be possible?How can it be so simple!The timing of the Toyota incident was too close to the time when President Obama hit China through the three "gifts"—trade war, exchange rate war, and cost war—so I couldn't help but doubt that it was a conspiracy.The more I dig into this conspiracy theory, the more likely it becomes.
Please think about it carefully, what is Obama's biggest dilemma at present?It's the high unemployment rate. At the beginning of 2010, I would like to remind everyone that the unemployment rate in the United States is very high if the semi-employed (that is, part-time workers and no formal jobs) population is added.How is the unemployment rate in the United States calculated?It means that you are not really unemployed after you lose your job, but you are considered unemployed if you haven’t found a job after receiving benefits for several months.Therefore, it takes at least half a year for you to be unemployed until it is included in the statistics, and some even take a year. Therefore, today's 10% unemployment rate is the unemployment rate of half a year or a year ago. This is the statistical method of the United States. If you take the real The unemployed population plus the half-employed and part-time workers are all included in the work, and this ratio is even higher. On May 4, 2008, according to a report by the US "Washington Post", the real unemployed population plus the half-employed population in the United States has reached 15%.By the beginning of 2010, this proportion should be close to 19%.This number is terrible, which means that one out of every five Americans is unemployed.
Why are these people unemployed?Because factories are closed, so why are these factories closed?Because the products they produce cannot be sold, but why can't they be sold?Because American consumers don't like to buy American products, what products do American consumers like to buy?I just like to buy cheap products from China and high-quality products from Japan.So for Obama, to reduce the number of unemployed people in the United States, it is necessary for Americans not to buy high-quality Japanese products and cheap Chinese products, and to make them buy American products back, and then American factories can open, and then workers can employment, and then the unemployment rate can be reduced.So for Obama, his bottom line is to dismantle the myth of high quality from Japan and cheap from China.The previous chapter talked about the United States forcing China to appreciate the renminbi through the trade war, and after the renminbi appreciated, the miracle of cheap Chinese goods was broken.So how does the United States break the myth of high-quality Japanese products?That's the Toyota War.In order to fight this war, the United States began to carefully plan an American version in the early 1990s. Readers are invited to savor the wonderful story of the leading actor in the American version, Yu Zecheng from the United States.
Who is behind the Toyota crisis?Behind the recall, who controls the rules?How to make ordinary people hate Japanese cars?Toyota has a problem, but let me tell you, GM has the same problem as Ford, and there are more serious problems, why don't you recall it?
Will Akio Toyoda's tears move the United States during the war of words hearing?The hearing process is a passionate performance.for what purposeJust for the mid-term elections of congressmen, he has to ask questions very sharply, very forcefully, and even ask a lot of questions so that the cameras are constantly on him.
The American version was staged, and Toyota introduced the "wolf" into the house.Reappearing the plot of the spy war, Mr. Mystery hit Toyota hard.The joint attack and fatal statement made Toyota powerless.After looking for so many law firms, I found that there was only one person who won every time, and that person was Yu Zecheng.He filed the 75-page indictment against Toyota in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Los Angeles.He actually advised Toyota users to stop driving Toyota cars, which caused Toyota's stock price to drop by 6 percentage points instantly.
Maybe many of your friends drive Toyotas.Toyota, which ranks first in quality in the world, has recently encountered Waterloo.We found that the quality of Toyota cars was not good enough, and they suffered repeated humiliations in the United States. Even the top leader of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, went all the way to the United States and was questioned by the U.S. Congress on February 24, 2010. .The Japanese are very interesting. At this juncture, they still use the Japanese way to deal with the American problem: first bow a 45-degree bow, the other party is not satisfied; then bow a 90-degree bow, the other party is still not satisfied; then start crying of.That's what the Japanese did. In Japan, if you cry and apologize, the Japanese will forgive you.But Americans won't, you don't understand Americans too well. I want to ask readers a question, do you believe it?Do you think the quality of Japanese Toyota cars may have dropped so drastically?Possibly worse than American cars?I looked at the case and I candidly tell you what my first thought was.It must be a conspiracy! "When a car reaches the mountain, there must be a road, and if there is a road, there must be a Toyota car."Right now, Toyota, the ruler of the global auto industry advertised by this slogan, is mired in a quagmire of large-scale recalls caused by "foot pad doors", "pedal doors" and "brake doors" . On January 21, 2010, Toyota Corporation of Japan announced the recall of approximately 2.3 million vehicles of 8 models sold in the US market; on January 26, Toyota announced the suspension of 8 models of vehicles sold in the US market and closed some production lines at the same time; 1 On March 28, Toyota once again announced the recall of 1.09 million vehicles from the US market and 75,000 vehicles from the Chinese market; on January 29, Toyota announced the recall of 1.8 million vehicles from European countries; , African and Latin American countries recalled 180,000 vehicles; on February 4, Toyota announced a recall of 270,000 Toyota Prius vehicles from the Japanese and US markets.Even the most seasoned industry experts have never seen a company with so many models of cars in crisis at the same time.What happened to Toyota in Japan, and what happened behind the Toyota crisis?
Figure 5-1 User attention and media attention before and after the Toyota recall incident
Let's look at the actual data. Please look at the public's attention to Toyota. The line in the upper half of Figure 5-1 is the user's attention.You will find that before the Toyota recall incident, the public did not pay much attention to it. It was not until the far right recall incident in Figure 5-1 that the public attention suddenly became very high.The lower part of Figure 5-1 is the media attention, which is also very low, and it has been zero until the far right of Figure 5-1 begins to recall.
What about Ford?Ford's public attention is not the same as Toyota's, it has always been very high.
You see, if you look at Toyota and Ford on the same coordinates, Toyota has almost no attention before the recall, while Ford has always had higher user attention and media attention than Toyota.Although Toyota has higher attention than Ford after experiencing the "recall door", Toyota has always been zero in the past, and it has only recently become high.As for Ford, it has always attracted much attention. Why?Because of its quality problems, the media often reported it, and consumers paid special attention to it.Readers, do you understand?That is to say, compared with Ford and Toyota, in terms of public attention or media attention, Ford has always received a lot of attention in the past period of time, except for the special period of the recent Toyota recall.Why?Because it has many quality problems, it has attracted special attention (see Figure 5-2).
These two simple diagrams can already tell you what's going on.In fact, in my opinion, this is the shocking conspiracy of the United States against Asian countries.You must not think that the United States is only dealing with Japan. What am I worried about?The US will use similar excuses against China.Frankly speaking, the quality of our products in various industries in China is not as good as that in Japan.If the United States really wants to deal with our work, the consequences will be unimaginable.Therefore, when we see the story of Toyota, we should not only gloat, but also think about it: If the United States deals with China in the future, what should we do?Because when the United States is determined to deal with a country, it is unscrupulous and will use all means.
Figure 5-2 User attention and media attention of Ford Motor
Why is the US targeting Toyota instead of other Japanese brands?Because the cars of the three major U.S. auto companies do not sell well, they will close their factories and cause auto workers to lose their jobs.And this is not just a problem of unemployment of workers in automobile companies, it will also cause unemployment of workers in other spare parts factories. Therefore, the consequences of the unemployment problem of the three major U.S. auto companies are terrible, and will cause millions of workers to lose their jobs. .According to our estimates, if the three companies are closed, at least 3 million people will lose their jobs. This is something that US President Obama cannot allow, because he is the president of the Democratic Party and he is a representative of the blue-collar class.At that time, it was these blue-collar workers headed by the auto union that brought Obama into the White House. Of course he wants to give back to these ordinary people today.Therefore, Obama must start with the highest quality Toyota in Japan. As long as it collapses, it will not only save the US auto industry, but other Japanese brands are not as good as Toyota, so it can effectively affect other Japanese brands.
How to repay the support of the majority of voters?Please think about it, if I were Obama, how would I feel?The three big American car companies just don't live up to expectations. The quality of the cars they make is not that good, and Americans just don't buy them.
According to the report of the Wall Street Journal of the United States, in the United States, the Toyota incident is generally described as an embarrassing setback for an auto giant that wins by product quality; but in Japan, when the media reported this incident, the tone was completely different. .Many Japanese newspapers see the incident as a re-emergence of US-Japan trade tensions and Americans' hostility toward Japanese companies in the 1980s.You know, just in 2008, Toyota surpassed General Motors with sales of 8.97 million vehicles, depriving GM of the world's number one automaker for 77 years.In the same year, the financial crisis broke out in the United States, and the Detroit Big Three automobile companies were in turmoil.Will US President Barack Obama allow Toyota to occupy the position of global auto industry hegemony?
How to do it?How to get Americans to buy American-made cars?Obama thought that Americans would not do it if they could not call on Americans to display their patriotic spirit and buy because of patriotism.then what should we do?Thinking, thinking, thinking, on a dark and windy night, he finally figured it out: he had to cut the bottom line, let the American people hate Japanese cars, make the people think that the quality of Japanese cars is not good, and must be thoroughly cracked down The quality of Japanese cars can make American people buy American cars.Therefore, according to the sales data in January 2010, the United States is successful, because Toyota's sales volume fell by 16%, while Ford's sales volume, which has many problems, actually increased by 25%. At this time, I began to think about the relevance of this incident, and the more I thought about it, the more reasonable it became, so I began to collect a large amount of data. After collecting the data, I found that this is so exciting. The whole incident is the result of careful planning by the Americans. . So I'm thinking, what should I do if I'm an American.Be sure to learn Chinese TV dramas.Do you remember that there is a leading actor named Yu Zecheng?Of course, the plot is different, but some modifications can be made.Do you know why I thought of it?Please think about it, in order to deal with the Soviet Union, the United States spent more than 20 years carefully planning to attack the Soviet Union, and finally let the Soviet Union disintegrate.What about dealing with China?Of course it is the same.What about Japan's auto industry?It must be the same.You must not underestimate the United States. Let me tell you, the most terrifying place in the United States is here.It is going to deal with you, not thinking about it today, but carefully planning it for decades.Before I talk about its conspiracy, I have to provide you with a data to prove to you the quality of Japanese Toyota cars. Look at Ford first.Why did Ford receive so much attention from the media and the public?Ford is recalling 14.9 million vehicles over a fire caused by the vehicle's cruise control switch.Some people joked that, according to statistics from relevant sources, the total number of cars sold in the United States in 2004 was only 25 million, so Ford will bear 60% of the responsibility for this.This is a joke.After talking about Ford, talk about GM.GM's two largest recalls were due to: first, an engine brace that came off and blocked the throttle valve;Both of these questions are a bit of a mouthful, so it doesn't matter if the reader can't understand them, as long as the reader knows that this is a serious problem.What about Toyota?In the January 2010 recall file released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Defect Investigation Office, we found relevant information.What is the reason behind Toyota's recall?We noticed that the Toyota with the label 10V-017 and the GM with the label 10V-018 were both recalled for the same reason.What is the reason for the recall?It's all about the accelerator pedal not automatically springing back under extreme temperature conditions.The other one is Toyota with the label 10V-23 and GM with the label 10V-24, which are also recalled together.What is the reason?It's all the foot pads stuck on the accelerator pedal.So, everyone, please take a look again, this time Toyota's problem is these two problems.Compared with the problems mentioned above, these two problems are very small problems.For such a small problem, Toyota also recalled it together with GM.Moreover, we are based on the data obtained from the investigation of the Vehicle Defect Investigation Office of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. One is File No. 17, the other is File No. 18; the other is File No. 23, and the other is File No. 24. They are all adjacent of.Then let me ask why you didn't say that there is a problem with the quality of GM? Today I am not saying that Toyota has no problems, Toyota has problems, but whether it has problems is not the key to the problem. The key to the problem is: GM has the same problems, but Ford has stricter problems. Why don't you recall them?Why are they not getting attention?This simple data already tells you that this is the beginning of careful planning. The so-called automobile recall system means that the automobiles put on the market have defects due to design or manufacturing reasons, do not comply with relevant regulations or standards, and may cause safety and environmental protection problems. The cause of the problem and the improvement measures, etc., submit a recall application, and after approval, modify the vehicle in use to eliminate the hidden danger of accidents.The United States has the longest history of automobile recalls. Since 1966, the United States has recalled defective automobiles. Up to now, the United States has recalled a total of more than 200 million complete vehicles and more than 24 million tires.The car recall itself is not a problem, but the question is: Why did Toyota fall into the dilemma of recalling itself at such a time?
Looking at car recalls, in the six months before January 2010, there were a total of 216 recalls, including 6 for Toyota, and the rest were basically American cars.You can see how many American cars have been recalled.However, Toyota had only 4 cases within a year in 2009, and 6 cases within half a year by the end of January 2010, which means that Toyota’s recall ratio in 2009 was only 0.8%, and the recall ratio in half a year was only 2.78%. But Toyota has a 17 percent share of the U.S. market.In addition, from a historical point of view, which car company occupies the first place in the number of car recalls?According to the data provided by the US "Forbes" magazine, it is Ford. In April 2006, 7.2 million vehicles were recalled for some reason.In second place was General Motors, which recalled 6.7 million vehicles in December 1971.The third place is still GM, which recalled 5.8 million vehicles in February 1981 for some reason.The fourth place went back to Ford, which recalled 4.5 million vehicles in September 2005 for some reason.Fifth place is still Ford, which recalled 4.5 million vehicles in October 2009.The sixth place is Toyota, which has recalled 4.26 million vehicles because of the footmat door incident.The seventh place is also Toyota, which has recalled more than 2 million vehicles for another reason.Therefore, judging from historical recalls, basically all American cars are being recalled.Judging from the recent recalls, most of the cars in the United States are being recalled. Judging from the information I quoted earlier, it is the American automobile companies that really have problems.Toyota has problems, but GM also has problems. Why don't you make a fuss about GM?So although we think there is indeed a problem with Toyota, but in fact the floor mat is stuck on the accelerator, don't you think the problem is very small?You don't need to use the pads.Is it that serious?Very serious, why so serious?Because the United States is not only targeting Toyota's problems. As long as Toyota is successfully attacked this time, Japanese auto companies such as Honda and Mitsubishi will be dragged in together, and then non-automotive industries such as Sony will also be dragged in.Therefore, this is another war carefully planned by the United States in 2010 after the Japan-US exchange rate war in 1985. It is a brand new trade war that has never been experienced before.How should the U.S. plan its trade war against Toyota? National car clears the way: the most authentic performance of the American version As the eldest son of Shoichiro Toyoda, the current honorary president of Toyota Motor, Akio Toyoda, the "Prince of Toyota" born with a golden spoon in his mouth, finally sat on the throne of Toyota Motor's supreme leader in 2009 and became the 11th president of Toyota.However, what awaits the new leader is an unprecedented crisis.Facing the stormy "recall" crisis, how does this heir of the Toyota family, who has not had time to enjoy the honor of president, perform in crisis public relations?
It all starts in early 1990.Let’s talk about those years in detail, thinking about how, how, how, this is called the American version. First of all, we need to find a "Yu Zecheng" who can "lurk". This person is called Biller, and he is a lawyer. In 2009, with the popularity of TV dramas, the public had a strong interest in the subject of spy wars, and "lurking" became one of the most popular buzzwords that year.However, many people may not have thought that "lurking" and spy wars are not just historical themes in TV dramas. In the process of global economic integration today, spy wars appear frequently.Coincidentally, just when the domestic audience was stunned, a real version of the drama staged in the United States has already begun.This spy war drama pushed the Japanese Toyota company, which had just excitedly ascended to the top position in global car sales, to the crater.So, how is this real version arranged?Who is the American version of "Yu Zecheng"?
What is the first step?When looking for a character, we must find someone who is willing to work for the US government sincerely, and this person is Biller.The U.S. government thinks that this man is a good one, because he doesn't look like a spy, nor is he very smart, and he looks a bit like Ma Ying-jeou, who looks very sincere and kind.But he is actually a very smart, super capable person, and more importantly, he has supreme patriotic feelings.After the U.S. government found Biller, he was sent to Ford Motor's "Whampoa Military Academy"-a training group for young leading litigators.Ford recruits about 16 auto lawyers into its "Whampoa Military Academy" nationwide each year, and Biller is one of them.In the early stages of his legal career, Beeler won numerous complex business lawsuits and successfully defended many cases for Ford, so he was appreciated by Ford Motor Company.After Ford sent him to the "Whampoa Military Academy", he began to slowly train the spy. Then enter the second step. From 1995 to 1997, Beeler was fully trained. He was asked to join the legal department of Ford's global headquarters to receive special training, and he was asked to go to the factory in person to fully understand the automobile production and development process, and then train him how to apply the law. The ingenious combination with the knowledge of automobile manufacturing makes him the only professional in the world who understands both technical engineering research and development and law.After training such a lawyer, logically speaking, he should stay in Ford Motor Company for his use, right? No, in order to deal with Toyota, Ford secretly carried out the third step-prepare to hide. From 1997 to 2003, Ford actually let Beeler go.Such a good lawyer has never lost a lawsuit in the previous two stages. He is not only smart, but also very knowledgeable (of course I mean he is very knowledgeable about cars).Do you think it's reasonable for Ford to fire him, a master who has won many victories?Fire him and let him go back to an independent law firm to be a lawyer.After that, Ford handed over many cases to this law firm, and named Biller to file a lawsuit.In the six years from 1997 to 2003, Biller never lost a lawsuit, so he established a reputation that is almost unmatched in the industry.But this law firm is not Ford's law firm, it is an independent law firm, and anyone can bring a lawsuit to Biller. In the past few years, Ford told Toyota's leaders indirectly through channels trusted by Toyota: Does Toyota want to sell cars in the United States smoothly without being sued by consumers?Then, you need a good lawyer who has never lost a lawsuit in the past. You should look for this kind of lawyer.So Toyota started looking, looking, looking, looking, after looking for so many law firms, and found that there was only one person who could win the lawsuit every time, and that person was Biller. Therefore, from 2003 to 2007, Toyota hired Beeler as the chief legal consultant to take charge of all Toyota's external lawsuits.Therefore, the spy plan entered the fourth step. Biller penetrated into the enemy's interior, just like Yu Zecheng penetrated into the KMT's interior, stealing secrets. Relevant data shows that the population of the United States accounts for 5% of the world's total population, its land area accounts for 6% of the earth's land area, its industrial and agricultural output value accounts for 25% of the world's total, and its lawyers account for 35% of the total number of lawyers in the world.This verifies the statement of Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States: "We will make the law the political belief of this country." For the United States, whether you are a native American or a later immigrant, whether you are white or black, you The most indispensable thing is a lawyer.For foreigners, the first person they meet when they enter the United States may be a lawyer, and the last person they meet when they leave the United States may also be a lawyer.Therefore, to survive in the United States, finding an American lawyer is the only way for Toyota Motor to go around.So what did Toyota's handpicked lawyers do?
During these four years, Biller represented Toyota in a total of 12 lawsuits. He won many battles and never lost. This buddy is too powerful, because he is the only automobile lawyer in the world.Because he has gone through the first step and the second step of training, and has become a great auto litigation lawyer.Toyota found that everything can be done with a good lawyer. It turns out that quality is not the most important thing, but the lawyer is the most important thing.The Japanese understand, and the Japanese find that nothing is as good as a lawyer, which is why there are so many lawyers in the United States.The Japanese began to be led astray, thinking that it doesn't matter if there is a problem with the quality, you can just deny it.If anyone sues you, you have to deny it. Why?Because there are good lawyers who can save you, Toyota was trained to think like this during those four years.The strategy of building a good car and using high quality to open up the market has completely changed at this time.How to change it?Toyota began to expand significantly, thinking that it didn't matter if it went wrong, as long as there were good lawyers, anything could be solved.Toyota has expanded its scale and increased its profits in the past few years, and it has ranked quality second.Therefore, after Beeler left Toyota in 2007, the business philosophy of Toyota's entire enterprise changed from "quality first" to "expansion first, quality second".Because it believes that as long as it has a good lawyer, it can win the case, because Biller has proved everything.How did it know that Biller was a spy. By September 2007, Beeler was gone.Why did you leave your job?Because the US government is going to start attacking Toyota.At this stage, my intuitive judgment is that the U.S. government, Ford, and Beeler have reached a tacit agreement or collusion to remediate Toyota together, so Beeler decided to leave.After Beeler left, Toyota was very grateful for his contribution in the past three years and gave him a severance package of 3.7 million US dollars. In the fifth step, the spy began to show his power, and the time to counterattack came.It wasn't until two years later that he began to fight back.Why?Because timing, timing, timing, timing is the most important, without a good timing, good spies alone are not enough.For example, if Yu Zecheng was latent in 1929 instead of 1945, it would be useless, it was not a good time, and it must be latent at a good time to be effective.So it was only after 2009 that we began to enter the moment of counterattack.Two years after resignation, on July 24, 2009, Beeler submitted a 75-page indictment against Toyota to the US District Court for the Eastern District of California in Los Angeles. In the TV series, Yu Zecheng's original identity was an agent of the Kuomintang military command, but his transformation into a latent member of the Communist Party seemed logical. No one questioned Yu Zecheng's behavior of going to revolution. One of the important reasons for this is that the director of the TV series It shows Yu Zecheng's inner world for the audience, and the actions of a person who believes in his own conscience are easily understood by people.The problems encountered by Biller, the former chief lawyer of Toyota's legal team, are quite similar.In modern business society, it is the most basic professional ethics for a lawyer to abide by the contract and protect the business secrets of the employer.Bieler testified against Toyota, and he will surely bear huge social pressure.So, how did Biller defend himself?
Many media questioned Biller: You used to be Toyota's chief lawyer, and your 75-page indictment exposed Toyota's secrets. Don't you have a fiduciary duty to Toyota?Since you were once an employee of Toyota, why didn't you keep it a secret for Toyota during this time?And when you entered Toyota, you swore an oath to Toyota to keep all the secrets for Toyota, why didn't you do it?"My conscience drives me to report Toyota," Beeler said.He spoke in tears and moved the American people.This is what he said in his public statement. He said that during the years he served as Toyota's chief lawyer, Toyota concealed and destroyed information related to more than 300 injuries and deaths caused by rollovers, and also destroyed its vehicles. Violations in engineering design and safety testing, and use this to evade legal sanctions.He said: This concealment and destruction was tacitly approved by the head office.That is to say, more than 300 car rollover incidents in the past may be re-interrogated.Why?Because Toyota deliberately destroyed evidence to avoid legal sanctions. I would like to tell my friends that it doesn’t matter whether you sell cars, toys or other products in the United States. It doesn’t matter if the product is defective. It has a set of procedures to deal with product defects.However, there is one major problem: you cannot hide.If you conceal your work, the consequences are very serious, and you may even be sentenced to prison.Beeler's lawsuit illustrates Toyota's concealment of more than 300 rollover cases in the past.Once the incident was announced, the entire United States was in an uproar.Toyota actually concealed more than 300 car accidents. Why did Toyota conceal it?It is because its engineering design and safety testing are illegal.Toyota did not face the public to solve the problem, but resorted to concealment, which is a crime.Friends, please pay attention, we Chinese have this problem, and we especially like to conceal it. This attitude is especially likely to arouse Americans' hatred.I would like to ask all entrepreneurs in the manufacturing industry to pay attention to what I said. For Biller's prosecution, Toyota is preparing to respond to the California District Court on September 17, 2009.But in August there was a terrible car accident. In fact, car accidents happen every month, and several times a month, but this car accident happened at the right time, and it was hyped to hit Toyota. In August 2009, a Toyota Lexus driven by a highway patrol sergeant in California overturned, killing a family of four.The media said passionately, look at this police officer, who is enthusiastic and responsible, loves the United States, loves work, loves family, loves his wife, and loves children, and such a loving patrolman actually drove a Japanese Toyota Lexus overturned, and the family of four Death is light, is death the reward for this love?Can our common people tolerate it?After this sentence came out, it was continuously broadcast on major TV stations every day, accompanied by the scene of the car being damaged.Look at this man who loved the United States, his work, his family, his wife, and his children, and he died tragically at the hands of the Japanese.Then, the U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not conduct a detailed investigation, but only reported through a preliminary investigation that the cause of the accident was that the pedal pad was stuck on the accelerator.Therefore, unreasonable throttle design may be the root cause of the accident. Do you know what mistake Toyota made?At this time, they were poisoned by the spy Biller. They believed that the lawyer was the most important thing, because Biller once taught Toyota to absolutely deny quality problems publicly, because the lawyer could handle everything. How could they know that the lawyer was a spy.However, after the Lexus tragedy, Toyota couldn’t take it anymore, because the U.S. government said that if you have quality problems, it is a very serious problem, because the U.S. stipulates that if you put the car before the U.S. government charges you In the case of a recall, you are not responsible, because it means that you discovered the problem yourself.If once the US government charges you, you will be in trouble and you will be responsible. As long as the U.S. government comes forward to accuse, it means that this is a fact.And Toyota said in August 2009 that there was no problem with its quality.If you say there is no problem with your quality, but the US government says you have a problem, you are lying and hiding the facts, and it will be over.Because the U.S. government said you had a problem, and you deliberately concealed it at the beginning, this aroused the common hatred of the American people and began to hate the Japanese to death.By September 30, 2009, Toyota was under pressure, so it announced the recall of 3.8 million cars with faulty floor mats. "Yu Zecheng" broke the news once a month, which made Toyota struggling to cope.What is his purpose?Let the common people feel that Toyota has many problems.During this period, he broke the news about a Toyota car accident in Japan, also known as the "Prius Gate".The Prius is a new gasoline-electric hybrid environment-friendly car invented by Toyota, but its brakes failed in Japan. "Yu Zecheng" said, look, you see, the Prius has a problem with the brakes, and Honda has the same brake system, so not only Toyota has problems, but Honda also has problems, so the simple inference is that all Japanese cars have problems. Toyota, Honda, and the rest of Japan are in a terrible mess.Moreover, in September 2009, when the Wall Street Journal reported Japanese news, nine out of ten were large-scale rolling reports on recall issues, which made Toyota exhausted. Lexus is a luxury car brand under the Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan. Since it was first proposed in 1983, it only took more than ten years. Since 1999, its sales in the United States have surpassed Mercedes-Benz and BMW, becoming the largest luxury car sales in the United States. brand.However, in August 2009, an American family in California was involved in a car accident while driving a Lexus, which brought Toyota into unprecedented trouble.Americans were outraged when photos of the American family member's intimate life emerged in public view.To this end, Toyota is trying to reverse the crisis with a recall plan of 3.8 million vehicles. So, can Toyota's efforts stop the decline?
On November 25, 2009, another piece of news came out.Of course, I really don't know who provided this news, but I hate to suspect that it is the result of careful planning. On November 25, ABC TV station in the United States broadcast the words of an American auto safety expert. He said that Toyota's recall is meaningless because it is a temporary solution rather than a permanent cure.He said that the safety hazard of Toyota's braking system has not been eliminated.As for whether what he said was true, no one knew, because it was a technical term.Moreover, Toyota's dealers in the United States also have the same doubts, so ordinary people believe that Toyota has a problem.At the same time, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued three consecutive press bulletins to keep tabs on Toyota's problems. In November, there were only four such announcements, three of which were aimed at Toyota.It is a very serious matter that the Ministry of Communications issued an announcement. By December 2009, Toyota had recalled another 3.8 million vehicles, but the U.S. government had escalated the matter to the level of a trade war.What a coincidence that the government has fully intervened!As long as the government intervenes, Toyota is hopeless.丰田就得准备遭受更猛烈地打击了。 2010年2月1日，交通部部长拉胡德下令让美国交通部扩大对丰田突然加速问题的调查。拉胡德是什么人呢？他是美国伊利诺伊州的联邦参议员，并且当了15年的参议员。而奥巴马也是同一个州出来的联邦参议员。这两个人是很好的朋友，这使我又想到了一个故事。还记不记得我在讲中美轮胎特保案时指出的，真正提出诉讼的是美国的工会，这个工会就是支持奥巴马成功当选的工会。所以奥巴马所找的人、所找的工会都是跟他有关的，而且是关系极好的。这更让我相信是一个阴谋。 交通部部长拉胡德下令让美国交通部扩大对丰田突然加速问题的调查，也就是查看丰田的电子油门系统是否受到电磁波的干扰。而更重要的线索是什么？你堂堂一个美国政府交通部部长，说话应该是极其谨慎的。但拉胡德于2010年2月3日在国会听证时说了一句话，建议丰田用户停止驾驶丰田车！这句话导致丰田的股价瞬间跌了6个百分点。如果他是真心诚意地这么讲话是没有问题的，问题是一个半小时之后他说：“我说错了，我不是这个意思，我不是叫你们不要开丰田车，我只是建议你们去丰田的经销商那里查询一下，不要搞错了。”可是你一个半小时之前已经告诉丰田用户不要开丰田车了，这个新闻立刻向全世界发布了。而一个半小时之后的更正则是大众不太关切的。我给各位举个我亲历的例子，网站上流传了一篇所谓我写的文章《白领陨落黑领升起》，虽然我一再澄清不是我写的，但是由于大家对这个文章感兴趣，对我的否认是不感兴趣的，因此这篇假借我名义的文章到处流传。同样的事情发生在这个事件上。拉胡德先说建议大家停止驾驶丰田车，全世界迅速转载他的话；等他一个半小时之后更正说“我不是这个意思”的时候，就没太多媒体转载了。所以，他的话给丰田造成了特别大的打击。 2010年1月4日，美国交通部下属的国家高速公路交通安全管理局的一个新局长上任了。他是2009年12月5日由提出轮胎特保案的那家工会推荐的。这家工会曾经在希拉里跟奥巴马杀得难分难解时转而支持奥巴马，促成奥巴马的最后当选，因此这家工会和奥巴马之间的关系可铁了，我们有理由相信这是个精心策划的阴谋，否则为什么总是在大战前夕透过和奥巴马关系密切的交通部长和这家工会介入呢？如果各位读者有兴趣想知道轮胎特保案的故事，可以阅读拙著一书。这家工会就是在2009年12月5日建议戴维？斯特里克兰（David Strickland）当的高速公路安全管理局的局长。戴维于2010年1月4日上任，到了2月7日，这个新任局长签署了调查令，要求丰田在30天之内回复他三封长达53页的询问信，而且还列了一个长长的清单交给丰田，并要丰田协助调查。如果丰田不能及时响应的话，就要按照隐瞒证据处理，有关负责人将被判处15年徒刑，罚金将高达1500万美元甚至上亿美元。如果丰田自己承认发现问题的话，它将面对高达1460万美元的民事赔偿。 “我号召大家不要购买丰田汽车，购买了丰田汽车的车主们，我奉劝你们停开！”美国交通部部长拉胡德的这番不符合自己身份的言论经过媒体传播，立刻让全美丰田经销商的电话被打爆。有分析指出，由于破产保护，美国政府拥有新通用汽车的多数股份、克赖斯勒10%的股份，像汽车召回这样全球汽车业的寻常之事，在美国的关注度却节节攀升，美国政府难脱大肆打压丰田的干系。2010年2月19日，拉胡德出面重申，丰田本次因安全问题导致召回，美国政府不是幕后的推动者。然而，“只要是对通用汽车有利就是对美国有利”，这也是写在美国汽车城底特律的信条。
但是更重要的一点是什么呢？到了2010年2月中旬，比勒又爆料了，他把一份E-mail拿出来。这个E-mail是这么写的：2008年4月3日，丰田美国销售部的副总裁雷诺兹给他的一个E-mail说，2003年到2007年，由于您工作努力、全心奉献、殚精竭虑、完美无缺的法律执行和审判技巧，以及良好的判断能力，减少了丰田接近1亿美元的赔偿金，大大减少了对丰田公司翻车事件的诉讼。在这12起案件中，您也展示了您的聪明才智和勇气。 本来这些档是不准公布的，因为这是你和丰田之间签下的保密合同。可是比勒透露出一点儿口风之后，美国法院就命令他公布。公布之后，美国老百姓一看，原来丰田的车子有问题，本来1亿美元该赔的赔偿金没有赔，就是因为他给你打官司，所以你没有赔。诉讼代表说，你犯了错却没有赔，就是因为通过打官司你才没有赔，说明你真的有问题。你为什么没赔呢？肯定是你搞什么贪污腐败。甚至牵扯到国会议员的问题上去，因为丰田对于国会议员也进行了一些游说公关。有的媒体甚至说：丰田是不是贿赂国会议员，买他们的同意书了？因此美国开始司法介入调查。这些是谁公布的？又是比勒。他先放口风：我有这个资料你们要不要，可是我签了协议我不能公布，怎么办？法院说：那这样的话，我命令你公布。所以这就是标准的间谍嘴脸。 至此，美国老百姓对丰田已经完全丧失信心了。 2010年2月24日，美国的国会要举行听证会，要求丰田的一把手、丰田的第三代总裁丰田章男到美国来进行答辩。我也要告诉各位朋友，美国国会的听证是不能去的。为什么不能去？因为那是个陷阱。以后我们的企业家碰到类似的美国国会邀请的话，你千万别去。为什么不能去？因为这不是美国国会的调查，不是国会众议院的调查，而是美国国会众议院下属的很多委员会，比如交通委员会、金融委员会等等，它们对这个案件感兴趣的话，就会叫你来听证。甚至议员个人对你的案件感兴趣的话，他也可以要求你出席国会的听证会。Do you know why?因为他们只对热门的事件有兴趣，尤其是丰田公司的。只要一听证，在电视集体转播的情况之下，他们就有露脸的机会了，对他们中期的选举是很有利的。所以到了快要中期选举的时候，他们特别喜欢举行听证会，但不是国会在听证，而是国会议员或者国会众议院下属的各个委员会在听证。你去了就会很糟糕，因为这个听证会不想知道真理，只想制造激情。 首先找专家说丰田的车子的系统有什么什么问题，然后再找受害者当庭痛哭，控诉他驾驶的丰田车因为这些问题导致了重大车祸，所以……让我翻车了，让我腿断了一条，让我丧失了工作能力，我们家还有两个嗷嗷待哺的小孩，他们不能上学，吃不饱肚子……当场声泪俱下，哭得一把鼻涕、一把眼泪的，让美国民众感同身受，对其极为同情。然后国会议员开始质询丰田的第三代领导人丰田章男，问了一句非常技术性的活：你这个什么什么系统是不是有那个专家讲的什么什么问题，所以导致了这位车主的重大车祸啊？ 问题是一个管理人员怎么会知道车子的系统有没有什么问题呢？丰田章男就开打太极拳说：“……每个问题都会受到尊重……”但是美国议员不满意，因此又连珠炮似的询问丰田到底技术有没有问题，从而导致这个人的伤残，你只要回答“YES”或者“NO”。但是丰田章男根本无法回答“YES”，也无法回答“NO”。如果你说，“NO”，他们就会说，你怎么知道“NO”，如果查出来有问题的话，你就是在作伪证；如果说“YES”呢？那就更麻烦了，代表丰田的管理人员承认丰田汽车的系统有问题，那还得了，只要承认了，就是丰田的末日。因此他既不能说“YES”也不能说“NO”，只能打太极拳，东讲讲，西讲讲，我这个那个，开始哭一下，站起来道个歉，流个眼泪，这是日本人喜欢干的事情。可是你没有回答问题，美国议员就一直强调，回答“YES”或者“NO”，但是丰田章男根本说不出来，只有把每个问题都避重就轻地作整体回答。美国议员又问他说，你是否能够彻底排除丰田汽车突然加速的故障问题。丰田章男也无法回答，只有长篇累牍地绕圈子。直到国会议员愤怒地发话说，我只想知道能还是不能，你不要说那么多废话。然后，丰田章男只好说，对于我而言，“汽车受损我感同身受”。美联社就评论说，这是日本人在危机中常用的方式，美国的精英曾几何时把自己比作受损的商品呢？不会，只有日本人才说，汽车受损我感同身受，美国人从来不说这个话的。言下之意是美国人不会简单地接受丰田章男的道歉。 所以各位读者要注意，美国的国会听证你不如不去，不去的话，最多媒体和议员骂骂你也就算了。如果去的话，就是丰田章男的下场。而且整个听证会的过程，就是一个激情的演出，其目的就是为了这个国会议员的中期选举。他必须非常尖锐地问问题，非常强有力地问问题，甚至要问很多问题，摄像机才能不断地对准他，有利于他的选举。 同样的事件也发生在我们中国的台湾。各位读者晓不晓得台湾的“立法委员”为什么经常打架？不是他们喜欢打架，而是打起架来以后摄影机就照到他们身上，照完之后，老百姓熟悉他们了，下次还会投他们的票。打完架之后，这些“立法委员”干什么去呢？晚上回去，打个电话给对方：对不起，打重了一点儿，晚上喝杯酒吧，给你道歉了。没事了，晚上又成为好兄弟了。第二天再打，甚至女同志还会脱下鞋来丢过去，干嘛呢？趁摄像机照到的时候赶快丢，这对下次选举有利。所以，我们回过头来看美国国会的听证会也是这样的。整个听证会就是一个搞笑的过程，完全就是一个演戏的过程，而丰田章男跑过去当了一回男主角，但是这个戏演下来，对丰田绝对不会有任何好处。 一边是拘谨认错，一边是咄咄逼人，丰田总裁丰田章男与美国国会议员的碰撞被认为是东西方文化差异的碰撞，53岁的丰田章男在当天的表现被形容为就像犯人过堂一样。而耐人寻味的是，有分析指出，在听证会当天，有议员要求丰田采购美国生产的汽车配件，也有议员提到丰田汽车轻视美国市场，更有议员提到美日两国的贸易赤字问题。美国国会议员对丰田公司的怒火好像越来越大，而这些议员心中显然各自在算另外一本账。
我想提醒各位读者，“和谐”这个词在美国的企业文化里是从来不会出现的，美国人是不讲“和谐”的，只有日本人讲“和谐”，所以日本人希望后退一步通过道歉而达到“和谐”的目的，但是日本人的道歉不表示他们承认车子质量有问题，他们只是希望透过道歉使得双方关系不要那么紧张，先“和谐”一下再说。但是美国人对于道歉的理解和日本人完全不同。美国国会议员说了，“不管你丰田章男怎么道歉，我都没看到你们的真诚悔改”。什么叫悔改？你一定要承认你错了，你的汽车有问题。丰田章男怎么能承认呢？承认就更糟糕了。所以你承认也不行，你不承认也不行。你承认的话，就证明你的丰田真的是不行的；你不承认的话，议员就会说，不管你怎么道歉，我都看不到你的真心悔改。因为对美国人来讲，丰田总裁的公开道歉和老虎伍兹因婚外情而公开道歉是一样的，没什么区别，因为老虎伍兹确实有婚外情才需要道歉的。如果丰田车子没问题，丰田章男干吗要道歉呢？和老虎伍兹一样，你确实有问题你才道歉的，是不是？听证代表说，你的车子质量确实有问题你才道歉的，否则你干吗道歉呢？因此，丰田章男在美国人看起来，跟老虎伍兹是同样的问题，但是丰田章男的道歉却同时不承认车子有质量问题的事实确实让美国人难以理解。而丰田根本搞不清楚这种关系。而且美国人说，丰田章男的话听起来很诚恳老实，但是诚意有多少，只有他自己心里清楚，这就是双方因为文化的不同而造成的严重隔阂。 好了，这个事件如何演变我不知道，不过2010年1月份的资料就是，福特汽车的销售量上涨25%，通用汽车的上涨13%，而丰田汽车的销量下跌16%。更可怕的是什么？只要美国成功地打击丰田，只要让美国的老百姓憎恨丰田，憎恨日本的汽车品牌，进而憎恨日本的其他品牌，美国的老百姓就会改用美国货。因此美国的失业率就会下降。如果丰田危机也就是美国对日本的贸易战——美国精心策划的结果，那么，让我感到不寒而栗的是我们中国怎么办？奥巴马2010年3月11日讲得非常清楚，他必须用强硬态度对付中国的汇率，而且美国财政部长宣布是否在2010年4月15日将中国列入汇率操纵国将延期，其目的不在贸易大战，而在汇率大战，美国希望透过人民币汇率的升值，而使得中国产品不再便宜。而且美国对我们展开贸易大战还更容易，因为我们中国的出口质量还不如丰田，对付中国的出口那更是易如反掌。一个“余则成”能够击垮丰田的话，对付我们都不需要“余则成”了。我们的工业实力，坦白讲还不如日本。如果美国解决日本之后，用同样的思维来对付我们中国怎么办？ 此时，信任就成为我们现代社会中陌生人之间实现交易的粘合剂。即便是到路边的市场购买水果这样一件简单的事也需要购买者具备仔细地评估产品质量的能力。许多法律系统都倡导“货物出门概不退换，买主对产品质量自行负责”的原则，即买主必须加倍小心，确保不被欺骗是买主自己的责任。我刚刚购买的水果可能在我刚到家时就腐烂了，但这也只能怪我自己没有仔细挑选。但如果水果中含有某种禁用的化学物质，那就需要由法律来解决了。 但法律并未给买主带来可靠的保障。社会生活中的许多其他机制已成为买主寻找其他买主作为自己联盟的手段，而更荒诞的是，许多买主也会在卖主中寻找自己的联盟。因为，这种不可靠性也殃及到了许多卖主：一个卖主拥有一部好车要出售，但他却无法向买主证明他的车与邻近展位的普通产品相比优越在何处；一种药疗效甚好，但外表看来却与无数江湖郎中开出的药剂没什么两样。如今，电视广告越来越成为华丽的自我包装和讽刺性的自我推荐，即使是最粗糙的国内产品的广告也要千方百计地让我们相信我们在众多平庸的产品中找到了货真价实的一件。 品牌的出现就是对信任的投资。它既是给客户的信号，也是使企业必须符合质量标准的承诺机制。 现代人赢得信任就如同购买食品、服饰和房子一样。有时，他的信赖度的最终保证人就是国家，但更多的时候，他的保证人是与他一样的公民——那些自己的可信赖度也未必可靠的人。 “盗之道”——一个看似矛盾的说法，事实上却蕴涵着最简单的道理： 只有在偷窃者的世界里，“道”才是必要的。任何社会中最严格的道德法规都是控制罪犯行为的法规，因为道义是处理法律所无法干预的事务的最有效方法。你周围人的道义、名誉和可信度都能够成为你在清晨愿意迈出家门与他们打交道的基础。如果一个现代社会的整个社会结构建立在这样的基础之上，那么由于银行业丑闻、政治剧变或原本值得信赖的公众人物腐败事件的曝光所导致的社会信任的瓦解将带来巨大的社会动荡。 本文摘选自［英］保罗·西布莱特的《陌生人群：一部经济生活的自然史》
Maybe many of your friends drive Toyotas.Toyota, which ranks first in quality in the world, has recently encountered Waterloo.We found that the quality of Toyota cars was not good enough, and they suffered repeated humiliations in the United States. Even the top leader of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, went all the way to the United States and was questioned by the U.S. Congress on February 24, 2010. .The Japanese are very interesting. At this juncture, they still use the Japanese way to deal with the American problem: first bow a 45-degree bow, the other party is not satisfied; then bow a 90-degree bow, the other party is still not satisfied; then start crying of.That's what the Japanese did. In Japan, if you cry and apologize, the Japanese will forgive you.But Americans won't, you don't understand Americans too well. I want to ask readers a question, do you believe it?Do you think the quality of Japanese Toyota cars may have dropped so drastically?Possibly worse than American cars?I looked at the case and I candidly tell you what my first thought was.It must be a conspiracy! "When a car reaches the mountain, there must be a road, and if there is a road, there must be a Toyota car."Right now, Toyota, the ruler of the global auto industry advertised by this slogan, is mired in a quagmire of large-scale recalls caused by "foot pad doors", "pedal doors" and "brake doors" . On January 21, 2010, Toyota Corporation of Japan announced the recall of approximately 2.3 million vehicles of 8 models sold in the US market; on January 26, Toyota announced the suspension of 8 models of vehicles sold in the US market and closed some production lines at the same time; 1 On March 28, Toyota once again announced the recall of 1.09 million vehicles from the US market and 75,000 vehicles from the Chinese market; on January 29, Toyota announced the recall of 1.8 million vehicles from European countries; , African and Latin American countries recalled 180,000 vehicles; on February 4, Toyota announced a recall of 270,000 Toyota Prius vehicles from the Japanese and US markets.Even the most seasoned industry experts have never seen a company with so many models of cars in crisis at the same time.What happened to Toyota in Japan, and what happened behind the Toyota crisis?
Figure 5-1 User attention and media attention before and after the Toyota recall incident
Figure 5-2 User attention and media attention of Ford Motor
How to do it?How to get Americans to buy American-made cars?Obama thought that Americans would not do it if they could not call on Americans to display their patriotic spirit and buy because of patriotism.then what should we do?Thinking, thinking, thinking, on a dark and windy night, he finally figured it out: he had to cut the bottom line, let the American people hate Japanese cars, make the people think that the quality of Japanese cars is not good, and must be thoroughly cracked down The quality of Japanese cars can make American people buy American cars.Therefore, according to the sales data in January 2010, the United States is successful, because Toyota's sales volume fell by 16%, while Ford's sales volume, which has many problems, actually increased by 25%. At this time, I began to think about the relevance of this incident, and the more I thought about it, the more reasonable it became, so I began to collect a large amount of data. After collecting the data, I found that this is so exciting. The whole incident is the result of careful planning by the Americans. . So I'm thinking, what should I do if I'm an American.Be sure to learn Chinese TV dramas.Do you remember that there is a leading actor named Yu Zecheng?Of course, the plot is different, but some modifications can be made.Do you know why I thought of it?Please think about it, in order to deal with the Soviet Union, the United States spent more than 20 years carefully planning to attack the Soviet Union, and finally let the Soviet Union disintegrate.What about dealing with China?Of course it is the same.What about Japan's auto industry?It must be the same.You must not underestimate the United States. Let me tell you, the most terrifying place in the United States is here.It is going to deal with you, not thinking about it today, but carefully planning it for decades.Before I talk about its conspiracy, I have to provide you with a data to prove to you the quality of Japanese Toyota cars. Look at Ford first.Why did Ford receive so much attention from the media and the public?Ford is recalling 14.9 million vehicles over a fire caused by the vehicle's cruise control switch.Some people joked that, according to statistics from relevant sources, the total number of cars sold in the United States in 2004 was only 25 million, so Ford will bear 60% of the responsibility for this.This is a joke.After talking about Ford, talk about GM.GM's two largest recalls were due to: first, an engine brace that came off and blocked the throttle valve;Both of these questions are a bit of a mouthful, so it doesn't matter if the reader can't understand them, as long as the reader knows that this is a serious problem.What about Toyota?In the January 2010 recall file released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Defect Investigation Office, we found relevant information.What is the reason behind Toyota's recall?We noticed that the Toyota with the label 10V-017 and the GM with the label 10V-018 were both recalled for the same reason.What is the reason for the recall?It's all about the accelerator pedal not automatically springing back under extreme temperature conditions.The other one is Toyota with the label 10V-23 and GM with the label 10V-24, which are also recalled together.What is the reason?It's all the foot pads stuck on the accelerator pedal.So, everyone, please take a look again, this time Toyota's problem is these two problems.Compared with the problems mentioned above, these two problems are very small problems.For such a small problem, Toyota also recalled it together with GM.Moreover, we are based on the data obtained from the investigation of the Vehicle Defect Investigation Office of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. One is File No. 17, the other is File No. 18; the other is File No. 23, and the other is File No. 24. They are all adjacent of.Then let me ask why you didn't say that there is a problem with the quality of GM? Today I am not saying that Toyota has no problems, Toyota has problems, but whether it has problems is not the key to the problem. The key to the problem is: GM has the same problems, but Ford has stricter problems. Why don't you recall them?Why are they not getting attention?This simple data already tells you that this is the beginning of careful planning. The so-called automobile recall system means that the automobiles put on the market have defects due to design or manufacturing reasons, do not comply with relevant regulations or standards, and may cause safety and environmental protection problems. The cause of the problem and the improvement measures, etc., submit a recall application, and after approval, modify the vehicle in use to eliminate the hidden danger of accidents.The United States has the longest history of automobile recalls. Since 1966, the United States has recalled defective automobiles. Up to now, the United States has recalled a total of more than 200 million complete vehicles and more than 24 million tires.The car recall itself is not a problem, but the question is: Why did Toyota fall into the dilemma of recalling itself at such a time?
Looking at car recalls, in the six months before January 2010, there were a total of 216 recalls, including 6 for Toyota, and the rest were basically American cars.You can see how many American cars have been recalled.However, Toyota had only 4 cases within a year in 2009, and 6 cases within half a year by the end of January 2010, which means that Toyota’s recall ratio in 2009 was only 0.8%, and the recall ratio in half a year was only 2.78%. But Toyota has a 17 percent share of the U.S. market.In addition, from a historical point of view, which car company occupies the first place in the number of car recalls?According to the data provided by the US "Forbes" magazine, it is Ford. In April 2006, 7.2 million vehicles were recalled for some reason.In second place was General Motors, which recalled 6.7 million vehicles in December 1971.The third place is still GM, which recalled 5.8 million vehicles in February 1981 for some reason.The fourth place went back to Ford, which recalled 4.5 million vehicles in September 2005 for some reason.Fifth place is still Ford, which recalled 4.5 million vehicles in October 2009.The sixth place is Toyota, which has recalled 4.26 million vehicles because of the footmat door incident.The seventh place is also Toyota, which has recalled more than 2 million vehicles for another reason.Therefore, judging from historical recalls, basically all American cars are being recalled.Judging from the recent recalls, most of the cars in the United States are being recalled. Judging from the information I quoted earlier, it is the American automobile companies that really have problems.Toyota has problems, but GM also has problems. Why don't you make a fuss about GM?So although we think there is indeed a problem with Toyota, but in fact the floor mat is stuck on the accelerator, don't you think the problem is very small?You don't need to use the pads.Is it that serious?Very serious, why so serious?Because the United States is not only targeting Toyota's problems. As long as Toyota is successfully attacked this time, Japanese auto companies such as Honda and Mitsubishi will be dragged in together, and then non-automotive industries such as Sony will also be dragged in.Therefore, this is another war carefully planned by the United States in 2010 after the Japan-US exchange rate war in 1985. It is a brand new trade war that has never been experienced before.How should the U.S. plan its trade war against Toyota? National car clears the way: the most authentic performance of the American version As the eldest son of Shoichiro Toyoda, the current honorary president of Toyota Motor, Akio Toyoda, the "Prince of Toyota" born with a golden spoon in his mouth, finally sat on the throne of Toyota Motor's supreme leader in 2009 and became the 11th president of Toyota.However, what awaits the new leader is an unprecedented crisis.Facing the stormy "recall" crisis, how does this heir of the Toyota family, who has not had time to enjoy the honor of president, perform in crisis public relations?
It all starts in early 1990.Let’s talk about those years in detail, thinking about how, how, how, this is called the American version. First of all, we need to find a "Yu Zecheng" who can "lurk". This person is called Biller, and he is a lawyer. In 2009, with the popularity of TV dramas, the public had a strong interest in the subject of spy wars, and "lurking" became one of the most popular buzzwords that year.However, many people may not have thought that "lurking" and spy wars are not just historical themes in TV dramas. In the process of global economic integration today, spy wars appear frequently.Coincidentally, just when the domestic audience was stunned, a real version of the drama staged in the United States has already begun.This spy war drama pushed the Japanese Toyota company, which had just excitedly ascended to the top position in global car sales, to the crater.So, how is this real version arranged?Who is the American version of "Yu Zecheng"?
What is the first step?When looking for a character, we must find someone who is willing to work for the US government sincerely, and this person is Biller.The U.S. government thinks that this man is a good one, because he doesn't look like a spy, nor is he very smart, and he looks a bit like Ma Ying-jeou, who looks very sincere and kind.But he is actually a very smart, super capable person, and more importantly, he has supreme patriotic feelings.After the U.S. government found Biller, he was sent to Ford Motor's "Whampoa Military Academy"-a training group for young leading litigators.Ford recruits about 16 auto lawyers into its "Whampoa Military Academy" nationwide each year, and Biller is one of them.In the early stages of his legal career, Beeler won numerous complex business lawsuits and successfully defended many cases for Ford, so he was appreciated by Ford Motor Company.After Ford sent him to the "Whampoa Military Academy", he began to slowly train the spy. Then enter the second step. From 1995 to 1997, Beeler was fully trained. He was asked to join the legal department of Ford's global headquarters to receive special training, and he was asked to go to the factory in person to fully understand the automobile production and development process, and then train him how to apply the law. The ingenious combination with the knowledge of automobile manufacturing makes him the only professional in the world who understands both technical engineering research and development and law.After training such a lawyer, logically speaking, he should stay in Ford Motor Company for his use, right? No, in order to deal with Toyota, Ford secretly carried out the third step-prepare to hide. From 1997 to 2003, Ford actually let Beeler go.Such a good lawyer has never lost a lawsuit in the previous two stages. He is not only smart, but also very knowledgeable (of course I mean he is very knowledgeable about cars).Do you think it's reasonable for Ford to fire him, a master who has won many victories?Fire him and let him go back to an independent law firm to be a lawyer.After that, Ford handed over many cases to this law firm, and named Biller to file a lawsuit.In the six years from 1997 to 2003, Biller never lost a lawsuit, so he established a reputation that is almost unmatched in the industry.But this law firm is not Ford's law firm, it is an independent law firm, and anyone can bring a lawsuit to Biller. In the past few years, Ford told Toyota's leaders indirectly through channels trusted by Toyota: Does Toyota want to sell cars in the United States smoothly without being sued by consumers?Then, you need a good lawyer who has never lost a lawsuit in the past. You should look for this kind of lawyer.So Toyota started looking, looking, looking, looking, after looking for so many law firms, and found that there was only one person who could win the lawsuit every time, and that person was Biller. Therefore, from 2003 to 2007, Toyota hired Beeler as the chief legal consultant to take charge of all Toyota's external lawsuits.Therefore, the spy plan entered the fourth step. Biller penetrated into the enemy's interior, just like Yu Zecheng penetrated into the KMT's interior, stealing secrets. Relevant data shows that the population of the United States accounts for 5% of the world's total population, its land area accounts for 6% of the earth's land area, its industrial and agricultural output value accounts for 25% of the world's total, and its lawyers account for 35% of the total number of lawyers in the world.This verifies the statement of Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States: "We will make the law the political belief of this country." For the United States, whether you are a native American or a later immigrant, whether you are white or black, you The most indispensable thing is a lawyer.For foreigners, the first person they meet when they enter the United States may be a lawyer, and the last person they meet when they leave the United States may also be a lawyer.Therefore, to survive in the United States, finding an American lawyer is the only way for Toyota Motor to go around.So what did Toyota's handpicked lawyers do?
During these four years, Biller represented Toyota in a total of 12 lawsuits. He won many battles and never lost. This buddy is too powerful, because he is the only automobile lawyer in the world.Because he has gone through the first step and the second step of training, and has become a great auto litigation lawyer.Toyota found that everything can be done with a good lawyer. It turns out that quality is not the most important thing, but the lawyer is the most important thing.The Japanese understand, and the Japanese find that nothing is as good as a lawyer, which is why there are so many lawyers in the United States.The Japanese began to be led astray, thinking that it doesn't matter if there is a problem with the quality, you can just deny it.If anyone sues you, you have to deny it. Why?Because there are good lawyers who can save you, Toyota was trained to think like this during those four years.The strategy of building a good car and using high quality to open up the market has completely changed at this time.How to change it?Toyota began to expand significantly, thinking that it didn't matter if it went wrong, as long as there were good lawyers, anything could be solved.Toyota has expanded its scale and increased its profits in the past few years, and it has ranked quality second.Therefore, after Beeler left Toyota in 2007, the business philosophy of Toyota's entire enterprise changed from "quality first" to "expansion first, quality second".Because it believes that as long as it has a good lawyer, it can win the case, because Biller has proved everything.How did it know that Biller was a spy. By September 2007, Beeler was gone.Why did you leave your job?Because the US government is going to start attacking Toyota.At this stage, my intuitive judgment is that the U.S. government, Ford, and Beeler have reached a tacit agreement or collusion to remediate Toyota together, so Beeler decided to leave.After Beeler left, Toyota was very grateful for his contribution in the past three years and gave him a severance package of 3.7 million US dollars. In the fifth step, the spy began to show his power, and the time to counterattack came.It wasn't until two years later that he began to fight back.Why?Because timing, timing, timing, timing is the most important, without a good timing, good spies alone are not enough.For example, if Yu Zecheng was latent in 1929 instead of 1945, it would be useless, it was not a good time, and it must be latent at a good time to be effective.So it was only after 2009 that we began to enter the moment of counterattack.Two years after resignation, on July 24, 2009, Beeler submitted a 75-page indictment against Toyota to the US District Court for the Eastern District of California in Los Angeles. In the TV series, Yu Zecheng's original identity was an agent of the Kuomintang military command, but his transformation into a latent member of the Communist Party seemed logical. No one questioned Yu Zecheng's behavior of going to revolution. One of the important reasons for this is that the director of the TV series It shows Yu Zecheng's inner world for the audience, and the actions of a person who believes in his own conscience are easily understood by people.The problems encountered by Biller, the former chief lawyer of Toyota's legal team, are quite similar.In modern business society, it is the most basic professional ethics for a lawyer to abide by the contract and protect the business secrets of the employer.Bieler testified against Toyota, and he will surely bear huge social pressure.So, how did Biller defend himself?
Many media questioned Biller: You used to be Toyota's chief lawyer, and your 75-page indictment exposed Toyota's secrets. Don't you have a fiduciary duty to Toyota?Since you were once an employee of Toyota, why didn't you keep it a secret for Toyota during this time?And when you entered Toyota, you swore an oath to Toyota to keep all the secrets for Toyota, why didn't you do it?"My conscience drives me to report Toyota," Beeler said.He spoke in tears and moved the American people.This is what he said in his public statement. He said that during the years he served as Toyota's chief lawyer, Toyota concealed and destroyed information related to more than 300 injuries and deaths caused by rollovers, and also destroyed its vehicles. Violations in engineering design and safety testing, and use this to evade legal sanctions.He said: This concealment and destruction was tacitly approved by the head office.That is to say, more than 300 car rollover incidents in the past may be re-interrogated.Why?Because Toyota deliberately destroyed evidence to avoid legal sanctions. I would like to tell my friends that it doesn’t matter whether you sell cars, toys or other products in the United States. It doesn’t matter if the product is defective. It has a set of procedures to deal with product defects.However, there is one major problem: you cannot hide.If you conceal your work, the consequences are very serious, and you may even be sentenced to prison.Beeler's lawsuit illustrates Toyota's concealment of more than 300 rollover cases in the past.Once the incident was announced, the entire United States was in an uproar.Toyota actually concealed more than 300 car accidents. Why did Toyota conceal it?It is because its engineering design and safety testing are illegal.Toyota did not face the public to solve the problem, but resorted to concealment, which is a crime.Friends, please pay attention, we Chinese have this problem, and we especially like to conceal it. This attitude is especially likely to arouse Americans' hatred.I would like to ask all entrepreneurs in the manufacturing industry to pay attention to what I said. For Biller's prosecution, Toyota is preparing to respond to the California District Court on September 17, 2009.But in August there was a terrible car accident. In fact, car accidents happen every month, and several times a month, but this car accident happened at the right time, and it was hyped to hit Toyota. In August 2009, a Toyota Lexus driven by a highway patrol sergeant in California overturned, killing a family of four.The media said passionately, look at this police officer, who is enthusiastic and responsible, loves the United States, loves work, loves family, loves his wife, and loves children, and such a loving patrolman actually drove a Japanese Toyota Lexus overturned, and the family of four Death is light, is death the reward for this love?Can our common people tolerate it?After this sentence came out, it was continuously broadcast on major TV stations every day, accompanied by the scene of the car being damaged.Look at this man who loved the United States, his work, his family, his wife, and his children, and he died tragically at the hands of the Japanese.Then, the U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not conduct a detailed investigation, but only reported through a preliminary investigation that the cause of the accident was that the pedal pad was stuck on the accelerator.Therefore, unreasonable throttle design may be the root cause of the accident. Do you know what mistake Toyota made?At this time, they were poisoned by the spy Biller. They believed that the lawyer was the most important thing, because Biller once taught Toyota to absolutely deny quality problems publicly, because the lawyer could handle everything. How could they know that the lawyer was a spy.However, after the Lexus tragedy, Toyota couldn’t take it anymore, because the U.S. government said that if you have quality problems, it is a very serious problem, because the U.S. stipulates that if you put the car before the U.S. government charges you In the case of a recall, you are not responsible, because it means that you discovered the problem yourself.If once the US government charges you, you will be in trouble and you will be responsible. As long as the U.S. government comes forward to accuse, it means that this is a fact.And Toyota said in August 2009 that there was no problem with its quality.If you say there is no problem with your quality, but the US government says you have a problem, you are lying and hiding the facts, and it will be over.Because the U.S. government said you had a problem, and you deliberately concealed it at the beginning, this aroused the common hatred of the American people and began to hate the Japanese to death.By September 30, 2009, Toyota was under pressure, so it announced the recall of 3.8 million cars with faulty floor mats. "Yu Zecheng" broke the news once a month, which made Toyota struggling to cope.What is his purpose?Let the common people feel that Toyota has many problems.During this period, he broke the news about a Toyota car accident in Japan, also known as the "Prius Gate".The Prius is a new gasoline-electric hybrid environment-friendly car invented by Toyota, but its brakes failed in Japan. "Yu Zecheng" said, look, you see, the Prius has a problem with the brakes, and Honda has the same brake system, so not only Toyota has problems, but Honda also has problems, so the simple inference is that all Japanese cars have problems. Toyota, Honda, and the rest of Japan are in a terrible mess.Moreover, in September 2009, when the Wall Street Journal reported Japanese news, nine out of ten were large-scale rolling reports on recall issues, which made Toyota exhausted. Lexus is a luxury car brand under the Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan. Since it was first proposed in 1983, it only took more than ten years. Since 1999, its sales in the United States have surpassed Mercedes-Benz and BMW, becoming the largest luxury car sales in the United States. brand.However, in August 2009, an American family in California was involved in a car accident while driving a Lexus, which brought Toyota into unprecedented trouble.Americans were outraged when photos of the American family member's intimate life emerged in public view.To this end, Toyota is trying to reverse the crisis with a recall plan of 3.8 million vehicles. So, can Toyota's efforts stop the decline?
On November 25, 2009, another piece of news came out.Of course, I really don't know who provided this news, but I hate to suspect that it is the result of careful planning. On November 25, ABC TV station in the United States broadcast the words of an American auto safety expert. He said that Toyota's recall is meaningless because it is a temporary solution rather than a permanent cure.He said that the safety hazard of Toyota's braking system has not been eliminated.As for whether what he said was true, no one knew, because it was a technical term.Moreover, Toyota's dealers in the United States also have the same doubts, so ordinary people believe that Toyota has a problem.At the same time, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued three consecutive press bulletins to keep tabs on Toyota's problems. In November, there were only four such announcements, three of which were aimed at Toyota.It is a very serious matter that the Ministry of Communications issued an announcement. By December 2009, Toyota had recalled another 3.8 million vehicles, but the U.S. government had escalated the matter to the level of a trade war.What a coincidence that the government has fully intervened!As long as the government intervenes, Toyota is hopeless.丰田就得准备遭受更猛烈地打击了。 2010年2月1日，交通部部长拉胡德下令让美国交通部扩大对丰田突然加速问题的调查。拉胡德是什么人呢？他是美国伊利诺伊州的联邦参议员，并且当了15年的参议员。而奥巴马也是同一个州出来的联邦参议员。这两个人是很好的朋友，这使我又想到了一个故事。还记不记得我在讲中美轮胎特保案时指出的，真正提出诉讼的是美国的工会，这个工会就是支持奥巴马成功当选的工会。所以奥巴马所找的人、所找的工会都是跟他有关的，而且是关系极好的。这更让我相信是一个阴谋。 交通部部长拉胡德下令让美国交通部扩大对丰田突然加速问题的调查，也就是查看丰田的电子油门系统是否受到电磁波的干扰。而更重要的线索是什么？你堂堂一个美国政府交通部部长，说话应该是极其谨慎的。但拉胡德于2010年2月3日在国会听证时说了一句话，建议丰田用户停止驾驶丰田车！这句话导致丰田的股价瞬间跌了6个百分点。如果他是真心诚意地这么讲话是没有问题的，问题是一个半小时之后他说：“我说错了，我不是这个意思，我不是叫你们不要开丰田车，我只是建议你们去丰田的经销商那里查询一下，不要搞错了。”可是你一个半小时之前已经告诉丰田用户不要开丰田车了，这个新闻立刻向全世界发布了。而一个半小时之后的更正则是大众不太关切的。我给各位举个我亲历的例子，网站上流传了一篇所谓我写的文章《白领陨落黑领升起》，虽然我一再澄清不是我写的，但是由于大家对这个文章感兴趣，对我的否认是不感兴趣的，因此这篇假借我名义的文章到处流传。同样的事情发生在这个事件上。拉胡德先说建议大家停止驾驶丰田车，全世界迅速转载他的话；等他一个半小时之后更正说“我不是这个意思”的时候，就没太多媒体转载了。所以，他的话给丰田造成了特别大的打击。 2010年1月4日，美国交通部下属的国家高速公路交通安全管理局的一个新局长上任了。他是2009年12月5日由提出轮胎特保案的那家工会推荐的。这家工会曾经在希拉里跟奥巴马杀得难分难解时转而支持奥巴马，促成奥巴马的最后当选，因此这家工会和奥巴马之间的关系可铁了，我们有理由相信这是个精心策划的阴谋，否则为什么总是在大战前夕透过和奥巴马关系密切的交通部长和这家工会介入呢？如果各位读者有兴趣想知道轮胎特保案的故事，可以阅读拙著一书。这家工会就是在2009年12月5日建议戴维？斯特里克兰（David Strickland）当的高速公路安全管理局的局长。戴维于2010年1月4日上任，到了2月7日，这个新任局长签署了调查令，要求丰田在30天之内回复他三封长达53页的询问信，而且还列了一个长长的清单交给丰田，并要丰田协助调查。如果丰田不能及时响应的话，就要按照隐瞒证据处理，有关负责人将被判处15年徒刑，罚金将高达1500万美元甚至上亿美元。如果丰田自己承认发现问题的话，它将面对高达1460万美元的民事赔偿。 “我号召大家不要购买丰田汽车，购买了丰田汽车的车主们，我奉劝你们停开！”美国交通部部长拉胡德的这番不符合自己身份的言论经过媒体传播，立刻让全美丰田经销商的电话被打爆。有分析指出，由于破产保护，美国政府拥有新通用汽车的多数股份、克赖斯勒10%的股份，像汽车召回这样全球汽车业的寻常之事，在美国的关注度却节节攀升，美国政府难脱大肆打压丰田的干系。2010年2月19日，拉胡德出面重申，丰田本次因安全问题导致召回，美国政府不是幕后的推动者。然而，“只要是对通用汽车有利就是对美国有利”，这也是写在美国汽车城底特律的信条。
但是更重要的一点是什么呢？到了2010年2月中旬，比勒又爆料了，他把一份E-mail拿出来。这个E-mail是这么写的：2008年4月3日，丰田美国销售部的副总裁雷诺兹给他的一个E-mail说，2003年到2007年，由于您工作努力、全心奉献、殚精竭虑、完美无缺的法律执行和审判技巧，以及良好的判断能力，减少了丰田接近1亿美元的赔偿金，大大减少了对丰田公司翻车事件的诉讼。在这12起案件中，您也展示了您的聪明才智和勇气。 本来这些档是不准公布的，因为这是你和丰田之间签下的保密合同。可是比勒透露出一点儿口风之后，美国法院就命令他公布。公布之后，美国老百姓一看，原来丰田的车子有问题，本来1亿美元该赔的赔偿金没有赔，就是因为他给你打官司，所以你没有赔。诉讼代表说，你犯了错却没有赔，就是因为通过打官司你才没有赔，说明你真的有问题。你为什么没赔呢？肯定是你搞什么贪污腐败。甚至牵扯到国会议员的问题上去，因为丰田对于国会议员也进行了一些游说公关。有的媒体甚至说：丰田是不是贿赂国会议员，买他们的同意书了？因此美国开始司法介入调查。这些是谁公布的？又是比勒。他先放口风：我有这个资料你们要不要，可是我签了协议我不能公布，怎么办？法院说：那这样的话，我命令你公布。所以这就是标准的间谍嘴脸。 至此，美国老百姓对丰田已经完全丧失信心了。 2010年2月24日，美国的国会要举行听证会，要求丰田的一把手、丰田的第三代总裁丰田章男到美国来进行答辩。我也要告诉各位朋友，美国国会的听证是不能去的。为什么不能去？因为那是个陷阱。以后我们的企业家碰到类似的美国国会邀请的话，你千万别去。为什么不能去？因为这不是美国国会的调查，不是国会众议院的调查，而是美国国会众议院下属的很多委员会，比如交通委员会、金融委员会等等，它们对这个案件感兴趣的话，就会叫你来听证。甚至议员个人对你的案件感兴趣的话，他也可以要求你出席国会的听证会。Do you know why?因为他们只对热门的事件有兴趣，尤其是丰田公司的。只要一听证，在电视集体转播的情况之下，他们就有露脸的机会了，对他们中期的选举是很有利的。所以到了快要中期选举的时候，他们特别喜欢举行听证会，但不是国会在听证，而是国会议员或者国会众议院下属的各个委员会在听证。你去了就会很糟糕，因为这个听证会不想知道真理，只想制造激情。 首先找专家说丰田的车子的系统有什么什么问题，然后再找受害者当庭痛哭，控诉他驾驶的丰田车因为这些问题导致了重大车祸，所以……让我翻车了，让我腿断了一条，让我丧失了工作能力，我们家还有两个嗷嗷待哺的小孩，他们不能上学，吃不饱肚子……当场声泪俱下，哭得一把鼻涕、一把眼泪的，让美国民众感同身受，对其极为同情。然后国会议员开始质询丰田的第三代领导人丰田章男，问了一句非常技术性的活：你这个什么什么系统是不是有那个专家讲的什么什么问题，所以导致了这位车主的重大车祸啊？ 问题是一个管理人员怎么会知道车子的系统有没有什么问题呢？丰田章男就开打太极拳说：“……每个问题都会受到尊重……”但是美国议员不满意，因此又连珠炮似的询问丰田到底技术有没有问题，从而导致这个人的伤残，你只要回答“YES”或者“NO”。但是丰田章男根本无法回答“YES”，也无法回答“NO”。如果你说，“NO”，他们就会说，你怎么知道“NO”，如果查出来有问题的话，你就是在作伪证；如果说“YES”呢？那就更麻烦了，代表丰田的管理人员承认丰田汽车的系统有问题，那还得了，只要承认了，就是丰田的末日。因此他既不能说“YES”也不能说“NO”，只能打太极拳，东讲讲，西讲讲，我这个那个，开始哭一下，站起来道个歉，流个眼泪，这是日本人喜欢干的事情。可是你没有回答问题，美国议员就一直强调，回答“YES”或者“NO”，但是丰田章男根本说不出来，只有把每个问题都避重就轻地作整体回答。美国议员又问他说，你是否能够彻底排除丰田汽车突然加速的故障问题。丰田章男也无法回答，只有长篇累牍地绕圈子。直到国会议员愤怒地发话说，我只想知道能还是不能，你不要说那么多废话。然后，丰田章男只好说，对于我而言，“汽车受损我感同身受”。美联社就评论说，这是日本人在危机中常用的方式，美国的精英曾几何时把自己比作受损的商品呢？不会，只有日本人才说，汽车受损我感同身受，美国人从来不说这个话的。言下之意是美国人不会简单地接受丰田章男的道歉。 所以各位读者要注意，美国的国会听证你不如不去，不去的话，最多媒体和议员骂骂你也就算了。如果去的话，就是丰田章男的下场。而且整个听证会的过程，就是一个激情的演出，其目的就是为了这个国会议员的中期选举。他必须非常尖锐地问问题，非常强有力地问问题，甚至要问很多问题，摄像机才能不断地对准他，有利于他的选举。 同样的事件也发生在我们中国的台湾。各位读者晓不晓得台湾的“立法委员”为什么经常打架？不是他们喜欢打架，而是打起架来以后摄影机就照到他们身上，照完之后，老百姓熟悉他们了，下次还会投他们的票。打完架之后，这些“立法委员”干什么去呢？晚上回去，打个电话给对方：对不起，打重了一点儿，晚上喝杯酒吧，给你道歉了。没事了，晚上又成为好兄弟了。第二天再打，甚至女同志还会脱下鞋来丢过去，干嘛呢？趁摄像机照到的时候赶快丢，这对下次选举有利。所以，我们回过头来看美国国会的听证会也是这样的。整个听证会就是一个搞笑的过程，完全就是一个演戏的过程，而丰田章男跑过去当了一回男主角，但是这个戏演下来，对丰田绝对不会有任何好处。 一边是拘谨认错，一边是咄咄逼人，丰田总裁丰田章男与美国国会议员的碰撞被认为是东西方文化差异的碰撞，53岁的丰田章男在当天的表现被形容为就像犯人过堂一样。而耐人寻味的是，有分析指出，在听证会当天，有议员要求丰田采购美国生产的汽车配件，也有议员提到丰田汽车轻视美国市场，更有议员提到美日两国的贸易赤字问题。美国国会议员对丰田公司的怒火好像越来越大，而这些议员心中显然各自在算另外一本账。
我想提醒各位读者，“和谐”这个词在美国的企业文化里是从来不会出现的，美国人是不讲“和谐”的，只有日本人讲“和谐”，所以日本人希望后退一步通过道歉而达到“和谐”的目的，但是日本人的道歉不表示他们承认车子质量有问题，他们只是希望透过道歉使得双方关系不要那么紧张，先“和谐”一下再说。但是美国人对于道歉的理解和日本人完全不同。美国国会议员说了，“不管你丰田章男怎么道歉，我都没看到你们的真诚悔改”。什么叫悔改？你一定要承认你错了，你的汽车有问题。丰田章男怎么能承认呢？承认就更糟糕了。所以你承认也不行，你不承认也不行。你承认的话，就证明你的丰田真的是不行的；你不承认的话，议员就会说，不管你怎么道歉，我都看不到你的真心悔改。因为对美国人来讲，丰田总裁的公开道歉和老虎伍兹因婚外情而公开道歉是一样的，没什么区别，因为老虎伍兹确实有婚外情才需要道歉的。如果丰田车子没问题，丰田章男干吗要道歉呢？和老虎伍兹一样，你确实有问题你才道歉的，是不是？听证代表说，你的车子质量确实有问题你才道歉的，否则你干吗道歉呢？因此，丰田章男在美国人看起来，跟老虎伍兹是同样的问题，但是丰田章男的道歉却同时不承认车子有质量问题的事实确实让美国人难以理解。而丰田根本搞不清楚这种关系。而且美国人说，丰田章男的话听起来很诚恳老实，但是诚意有多少，只有他自己心里清楚，这就是双方因为文化的不同而造成的严重隔阂。 好了，这个事件如何演变我不知道，不过2010年1月份的资料就是，福特汽车的销售量上涨25%，通用汽车的上涨13%，而丰田汽车的销量下跌16%。更可怕的是什么？只要美国成功地打击丰田，只要让美国的老百姓憎恨丰田，憎恨日本的汽车品牌，进而憎恨日本的其他品牌，美国的老百姓就会改用美国货。因此美国的失业率就会下降。如果丰田危机也就是美国对日本的贸易战——美国精心策划的结果，那么，让我感到不寒而栗的是我们中国怎么办？奥巴马2010年3月11日讲得非常清楚，他必须用强硬态度对付中国的汇率，而且美国财政部长宣布是否在2010年4月15日将中国列入汇率操纵国将延期，其目的不在贸易大战，而在汇率大战，美国希望透过人民币汇率的升值，而使得中国产品不再便宜。而且美国对我们展开贸易大战还更容易，因为我们中国的出口质量还不如丰田，对付中国的出口那更是易如反掌。一个“余则成”能够击垮丰田的话，对付我们都不需要“余则成”了。我们的工业实力，坦白讲还不如日本。如果美国解决日本之后，用同样的思维来对付我们中国怎么办？ 此时，信任就成为我们现代社会中陌生人之间实现交易的粘合剂。即便是到路边的市场购买水果这样一件简单的事也需要购买者具备仔细地评估产品质量的能力。许多法律系统都倡导“货物出门概不退换，买主对产品质量自行负责”的原则，即买主必须加倍小心，确保不被欺骗是买主自己的责任。我刚刚购买的水果可能在我刚到家时就腐烂了，但这也只能怪我自己没有仔细挑选。但如果水果中含有某种禁用的化学物质，那就需要由法律来解决了。 但法律并未给买主带来可靠的保障。社会生活中的许多其他机制已成为买主寻找其他买主作为自己联盟的手段，而更荒诞的是，许多买主也会在卖主中寻找自己的联盟。因为，这种不可靠性也殃及到了许多卖主：一个卖主拥有一部好车要出售，但他却无法向买主证明他的车与邻近展位的普通产品相比优越在何处；一种药疗效甚好，但外表看来却与无数江湖郎中开出的药剂没什么两样。如今，电视广告越来越成为华丽的自我包装和讽刺性的自我推荐，即使是最粗糙的国内产品的广告也要千方百计地让我们相信我们在众多平庸的产品中找到了货真价实的一件。 品牌的出现就是对信任的投资。它既是给客户的信号，也是使企业必须符合质量标准的承诺机制。 现代人赢得信任就如同购买食品、服饰和房子一样。有时，他的信赖度的最终保证人就是国家，但更多的时候，他的保证人是与他一样的公民——那些自己的可信赖度也未必可靠的人。 “盗之道”——一个看似矛盾的说法，事实上却蕴涵着最简单的道理： 只有在偷窃者的世界里，“道”才是必要的。任何社会中最严格的道德法规都是控制罪犯行为的法规，因为道义是处理法律所无法干预的事务的最有效方法。你周围人的道义、名誉和可信度都能够成为你在清晨愿意迈出家门与他们打交道的基础。如果一个现代社会的整个社会结构建立在这样的基础之上，那么由于银行业丑闻、政治剧变或原本值得信赖的公众人物腐败事件的曝光所导致的社会信任的瓦解将带来巨大的社会动荡。 本文摘选自［英］保罗·西布莱特的《陌生人群：一部经济生活的自然史》