Deep-Dive: Behind the scenes at Toyota's R&D center, Part 1

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Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Technology, Toyota

Behind the scenes at Toyota's R&D center - Click above for high-res image gallery

The last 18 months have been a particularly painful period for Toyota Motor Company. Starting in early 2009, with the automotive industry facing a global economic recession, Toyota went from one of the world's most profitable automakers to grappling with its first full-year loss in more than seven decades.



As Toyota operations around the world began to slash spending in an effort to return to black ink, quality issues bubbling below the surface for several years suddenly burst open like a ruptured oil well. And while most automakers have faced issues with product quality at various times in their histories, the past year has been especially gut-wrenching for Toyota. The company's ascension to sales dominance was fueled in large part by its reputation for solidly engineered, reliable products with consistently excellent fit and finish. That reputation has now been brought into question.



As 2009 wound to a close, reports began surfacing that Toyota and Lexus vehicles were accelerating out of control, and the syndrome has been blamed for a number of fatalities. A string of related and unrelated recalls began and continue to this day, with the most recent coming just a week ago for a Lexus valve spring engine defect.



In an effort to show transparency and a concerted effort to improve its quality and safety, for the first time in its history, Toyota has invited a small group of journalists and analysts into its research and safety facilities in Toyota City, Japan. As part of that select group of media, in the coming days, we'll have a chance to peek behind the curtain, look at how its products are developed and tested and talk to Toyota executives, including CEO Akio Toyoda as we try to fully understand not only how things went so horribly wrong, but how the automaker plans to get back on track.



Make the jump for Part One of our series

Gallery: Behind the scenes at Toyota's R&D center

Continue reading Deep-Dive: Behind the scenes at Toyota's R&D center, Part 1

Deep-Dive: Behind the scenes at Toyota's R&D center, Part 1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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