Customer First

Toyota Motor Corp.'s new Center Stow Seat in the '08 Highlander cross/utility vehicle represents much more than merely a clever product innovation.

The feature sprang from an initiative aimed at better meeting customer needs and desires, while at the same time shoring up the auto maker's slipping quality.

Toyota has been scarred by negative reports highlighting its ballooning number of recalls, and it admits to falling short of its own internal targets on fit and finish in recent months. The Toyota brand slid from fourth to seventh place in the latest high-profile J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.

“When President (Katsuo) Watanabe took the reigns of the company in 2005, he strongly stated to the engineering department his intention to re-prioritize product quality,” says Yukihiro Okane, chief engineer for the '08 Highlander.

Due to increasing vehicle complexity, Watanabe challenged Toyota engineers to come up with new ways to improve quality.

“Everything from tools to process to budget was open to discussion,” Okane says.

This result was “Customer First,” a new initiative to re-allocate assets, increase development time, boost staff and hike the number of prototypes built during development.