Toyota, GM and now VW…An industry prone to mega crises?

In 2014, Toyota sold 10.24 million vehicles, beating VW’s 10.14 million and GM’s 9.92 million vehicles. In total, the three OEMs sold 30.3 million vehicles across 24 car and truck brands globally, including the heavy commercial vehicles sold by Toyota and VW. Although these three OEMs consistently make up the top three list of global OEMs by volume sales, it is Volkswagen which in H1 2015 appeared to have gained the lead, outselling Toyota by 20,000 units.

Since 2009, however, each of these three OEMs has also found itself embroiled in a major scandal involving wrongdoing, cover-ups and breaches of trust. Each scandal had worldwide implications, and looked capable of having disastrous long-term effects on the company concerned. Toyota was hit by the sudden unintended acceleration scandal in 2009; General Motors spent 2014 tackling the ignition switch fiasco; in 2015, the industry has been rocked by allegations that Volkswagen has fudged diesel emissions results.

Each case has been markedly different, not only in the alleged offences, but also in the way they have been handled by the authorities, the companies’ internal response, and the associated public reaction.

In this article, Automotive World looks at the infringements involved, the punishment meted out and the company response.