Toyota US Plants to Be Reopened

As Toyota is struggling to get out of the mess they’re in, there is finally some good news. According to Reuters, Toyota Motor Corp said it will restart production of the eight models involved in the safety recall on February 8.

The Japanese manufacturer decided to stop production of eight of its models in the US, in an attempt to repair the well known accelerator pedal fault. The affected Toyota models have been considered a true menace for their owner, as the car’s faulty accelerator pedal might get stuck in full throttle.

Despite the huge costs of the recalls, this is not Toyota’s most important problem. The 8 million vehicles recall which will take place in US, Europe, China and the Middle East affected the automaker’s image. Toyota was helped by its reputation for quality and reliability to overtake General Motors as the world's top carmaker. As we all know, it takes a long time to build a reputation, but it can all be ruined in a second.

Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset management, said: "This (recall) was expanded across the globe and has really put Toyota under the spotlight."

"This could hurt Toyota's brand image, and there's definitely concern about a longer-term damage to the image ... It could also affect Toyota's overall competitiveness."

On Sunday, Toyota decided to kick off a media blitz with full page ads in major US newspapers which alerted readers about the recall and that the production shutdown will last at least a week.