I accept your apology

As you may have guessed by now, I am an avid news reader/listener.  It was ingrained in us as young little bumpkins to appreciate the world around us.  We grew up in Dubai which is quite the melting pot for cultures.  We had communities of Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, Phillipino, Bangaladeshis, Egyptians, British, French, American, Dutch etc.  Even within my crew of high-school best friends, we represented India, South Korea, England and Poland.  Growing up in that kind of environment it becomes natural to have an appreciation of the going-on's of the world.

This past month, nobody could have missed the biggest automobile industry story of the Japanese company Toyota who was forced to recall thousands of Camrys, Corollas and Prius cars due to a faulty acceleration pedal.  Toyota's name is one of safety and reliability in the car industry and this was and still remains a huge blow to their brand.  I didn't think the story was too remarkable until Friday February 5th when the Japanese CEO issued a public apology.  To be honest, I was floored.  Here is a top executive stating openly that his company failed its customers and that they felt bad about it.  Gosh, not only felt bad about it but felt it warranted an apology.  I have to say that I am very proud of this CEO.  He apologized.  How often do we see top CEOs saying sorry to their customers for some sort of wrong-doing?

Now part of my mind of course goes to a place that might believe that Mr. Toyoda may have apologized as a PR stunt - a way to help ease the tarnish that has crept up on their good name.  Of course as the recent episode of Grey's Anatomy taught us all...apologies go a long way.  And I think we can all relate.  Whether it's between two friends, or two strangers, an apology nearly always defuses a situation within a couple seconds.  So did Mr. Toyoda strategize his apology to regain the confidence in his customers?  Hmm, maybe.  I wouldn't really know but my gut is telling me that this CEO really means it.  I believe that he actually feels sorry for what has happened.

Then to top it off, on Saturday I saw on the news that Mr. Toyoda went to a local Toyota dealership in Japan to apologize in person to several customers who were there to get there Prius cars fixed.  In Person.  Listen whether this was a PR tactic or not, the guy's got balls, don't you think?  You're a huge CEO and your whole company is under a media fire for recent errors and not only do you apologize on TV, but then you meet your customers face-to-face?  I think he's quite brave and I admire his apology and Mr. Toyoda, this message is for you.  I accept your apology.  Now I don't have a Toyota (in fact my husband and I both have your competitor, Honda, heehee!) but on behalf of disgruntled Toyota owners, I appreciate the fact that you went out of your way to say sorry.  And I sincerely hope that you didn't do it as a ploy but somehow your cheery Japanese face tells me otherwise.

Good luck Mr. Toyoda!!
ps - now I know where the Toyota brand got their name.  Interesting, huh?  I never knew.