The automotive industry is one of the worlds largest industries. According to the 2007 DOT study, there are an estimated 254.4 million cars on the road compared to a U.S. population of
307,006,550 from the U.S. census bureau July 2009. The automotive industry holds enough stake in the U.S. market that their actions induce a ripple that travels to all drivers and passengers of automobiles. One great example is Toyota. Toyota was one of the first car companies in the U.S. to introduce a practical yet affordable hybrid vehicle. Sales were great and exceeded expectation. Then on August 26, 2010 Toyota announced that they would recall approxiamately 1.13 million 05 - 08 models. It not sure whether Toyota knew beforehand whether the gas pedals would get stuck. Nevertheless, Toyota's mistake in providing shoddy material to manufacture parts lead to deaths of innocent victims such as Mark Saylor's family. "Mark Saylor, his wife, child and brother-in-law Chris Lastrella were all killed in a car crash apparently caused by a faulty Toyota accelerator" (Mail Online).
Business ethics are an integral aspect of the automotive industry. It can be stated both ways that Toyota did or didn't pertain foresight to these incidents. However, had they decided to focus on providing customers quality accelerators made of quality material rather than focus on increasing revenue Mark Saylor's family might not have died. There must be an equal balance of business ethics and profit interests. For the survivors of Mark Saylor's family, Toyota is to blame for Mark's death, but is it also capitalism's?
- Paul Jung
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