Everyone says Toyota is the best company in the world, but the customer doesn't care about the world. They care if we are the best in town, or not. That's what I want to be.
Trouble results when the speed of growth exceeds the speed of nurturing human resources. To use the analogy of growth rings in a tree, when unusually rapid growth caused the rings to grow abnormally thick, the tree trunk weakens and is easily broken.
After I joined Toyota, there was a period when I drove more than 200 cars in one year - different types, other companies' cars. I want to be able to tell what distinguishes one car from the next.
For much of Toyota's history, we have ensured the quality and reliability of our vehicles by placing a device called an andon cord on every production line - and empowering any team member to halt production if there's an assembly problem. Only when the problem is resolved does the line begin to move again.
The hundreds of thousands of men and women at Toyota operations worldwide - including the 172,000 team members and dealers in North America - are among the best in the auto industry.
I ride many different cars. Let's say I would drive 200 different vehicles in a year, so it's rather difficult to say which car or what car I ride. I love cars.
With respect to sticking accelerator pedals, we failed to connect the dots between problems in Europe and problems in the United States because the European situation related primarily to right-hand-drive vehicles. Toyota will increase its outreach to government agencies charged with protecting the safety of motorists and passengers.
