Akio

We are a B2C business company that provides mobility. If something we do is truly dangerous, people should be concerned. However, I've always felt that fanning the flames of anxiety more than is needed is a bad thing.

During the public hearing, we heard "Runaway Prius." When I hear "runaway," I picture a car not stopping for 200 to 300 meters. Most people would probably picture that.

However, when we investigated the actual vehicle, we found that the braking distance had increased by 70 cm, not 70 meters.

And even that depends on how the brakes were applied. Calling that a "runaway car" causes unnecessary concern.

That's why, in this case, our strategy was to avoid fanning the flame of unnecessary concern with phrases like "false statements" or "wrongdoing."

What we found had happened was that a moving barrier 700 kg heavier than the standard was used to investigate rear-end collisions.

Tomikawa

According to regulations, the moving barrier should be 1100 kg, plus or minus 20 kg.

Akio

US regulations are 1800 kg, so it turned out they'd used a moving barrier 700 kg heavier than the standard. But this is a violation of the rules.

Tomikawa

So even if testing conditions are stricter, it still violates the rules because it is outside the range.

Akio

It is technically a wrongdoing, but that's the thing. My first thought was that I should explain it to avoid fanning the flames of concern unnecessarily.

My next thought was that, as the leader of the Group, I was at the press conference on January 30.

This case involves Toyota Motor East Japan and Toyota Motor Corporation, so I decided to attend for consistency's sake and started getting ready.

In doing so, I thought we must not fan the flames of anxiety any more than is necessary. We did do something we shouldn't have done, so I worked with a few people who supported me to figure out how to explain it properly.

The report was originally scheduled for June 3, but there are often leaks in these situations.

Tomikawa

It was a little early.

Akio

Rumors spread even though neither MLIT nor the OEMs said anything. This fanned the flames of anxiety even worse.

I'd anticipated that the anxiety would lead to harsh criticism of Toyota and safety concerns regarding the cars people own, so I thought preparing a Q&A would be effective.

The board decided that I would attend, but I myself needed to be convinced, so I thought having the chief officer in charge of quality and I appear together and state the facts, explain what we did wrong to the customers of our cars would be least likely to incite concern.

Tomikawa

When I watched the press conference, I sensed that conveying the facts helped prevent things from escalating.

Akio

Sometimes, conveying facts can still end up in backlash. For example, I responded to the question, "How can such wrongdoing be eliminated?" by saying, "It cannot be eliminated."

Tomikawa

You said it was impossible.

Akio

That's a fact. But if someone else had said it, it might have caused uproar.

Tomikawa

Usually in situations like these, people say, "We will take thorough measures to eliminate wrongdoing" or "We will do our best."

Akio

That is the usual response. Perhaps that's what I should say, but since the public hearing, my commitment to the public has been "not to run away, not to hide, not to deceive," so I was unable to say we could do something that we cannot do.

Instead of eliminating it, I thought it better to manage abnormalities immediately, stop immediately when something goes wrong, and take action immediately. That is how the principles and techniques of TPS can be used.

Tomikawa

As you conveyed that message, I think many people who may have initially been surprised when you said it was impossible would eventually be convinced.

You never say things like, "Never fail" or "Make no mistakes."

You always say, "Try even if it means failing," and "Keep going," so that is how I interpreted it when I heard it.

Akio

When a person who usually says things like that speaks the truth, it is convincing. If I usually said, "Never fail," and then said what I said, it wouldn't have resonated.