Toyota Suffers, Honda Prospers

Toyota seems to be feeling the strain of the recent vehicle recalls

US Sales have dropped:

Toyota Motor Corp suffered a sharp drop in U.S. sales last month as its massive recall and unprecedented sales halt allowed rivals to grab market share from the world's largest automaker.

Here's what PR Consultant, Ong Huac Chuan, had to say:

"In moments of a business crisis, people want to see a company take full responsibility, be empathic to the victims and their families and be in control by outlining the problem and how they intend to solve it. They also expect the CEO doing all this," said Ong Hock Chuan, technical adviser of Jakarta-based PR consultancy Maverick who specializes in crisis management.

"Toyota seems to have failed in all counts. It's admission of the problem has been half hearted and almost reluctant, it has failed to apologize unequivocally to victims and their families, and its failed to articulate and communicate what it intends to do to regain control of the situation."

For a business, hellbent on being the market leader, Toyota seems to have failed miserably to show its customers that it cares about them.

On the other side of the docket, Honda raised its profit forecast:

Honda Motor Co (7267.T) lifted its annual guidance far beyond market expectations on Wednesday after cost cuts drove quarterly profit to the strongest in a year and a half, and said it anticipates further growth next financial year.

Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo:

"Under these sales conditions, I see a fundamental ability to make 100 billion yen in operating profit every quarter," Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo told a news conference.

He worries though that the recent Toyota recalls will have a negative effect on Japanese brands, including Honda:

"Toyota is the front-runner representing Japanese cars," Honda's Kondo said. "In that sense, we're somewhat worried that there may be a knock-on effect on other Japanese brands, but we'll need a little more time to gauge any impact."

I would hope people see through that and recognize Honda's long history of building excellent reliable cars.