The older recall: Toyota

Toyota had no choice but to stop selling eight different models while it works out a way to fix what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has called “a dangerous accelerator pedal issue.” nytimes, 28 jan chris

The September Safety Bulletin from Toyota.com

safety very seriously. It believes its vehicles to be among the safest on the road today.

Recent events have prompted Toyota to take a closer look at the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position due to an unsecured or incompatible driver's floor mat. A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.

Toyota considers this a critical matter and will soon launch a safety campaign on specific Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Throughout the process of developing the details of the action plan, it will advise the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Until Toyota develops a remedy, it is asking owners of specific Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and NOT replace it with any other floor mat. The following models are affected:

• 2007 – 2010 Camry
• 2005 – 2010 Avalon
• 2004 – 2009 Prius
• 2005 – 2010 Tacoma
• 2007 – 2010 Tundra
• 2007 – 2010 ES350
• 2006 – 2010 IS250 and IS350

Should the vehicle continue to accelerate rapidly after releasing the accelerator pedal, this could be an indication of floor mat interference. If this occurs, Toyota recommends the driver take the following actions:

First, if it is possible and safe to do so, pull back the floor mat and dislodge it from the accelerator pedal; then pull over and stop the vehicle.

If the floor mat cannot be dislodged, then firmly and steadily step on the brake pedal with both feet. Do NOT pump the brake pedal repeatedly as this will increase the effort required to slow the vehicle.

Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.

If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF, or to ACC. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.

-If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.

-If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.

In the event owners choose not to remove their floor mat, Toyota strongly recommends that they ensure that the correct floor mat is being used, that it is properly installed and secured, that it is not flipped over with bottom-side up, and that one floor mat is not stacked over another. Information on proper floor mat installation can be found onhttp://www.toyota.com and http://www.lexus.com.

Owners with questions or concerns, are asked to please contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center (1 800 331-4331) or Lexus Customer Assistance Center (1 800 255¬3987), or consult the information posted at http://www.toyota.com andhttp://www.lexus.com.

September 29, 2009

The Toyota Recall

Ford reported great results

THE TOYOTA RECALL

Jan 28, BW(BLOOMBERG)

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, fell in Tokyo as it expanded a U.S. recall by more than 1 million vehicles to 5.35 million, adding to concerns its reputation for quality may be permanently tarnished.
The shares dropped 3.9 percent to 3,560 yen, capping a fifth day of declines, the longest losing streak since May 2009. The stock has dropped 15 percent since Jan. 21, when Toyota announced a separate recall of 2.3 million U.S.-built vehicles after finding a pedal flaw linked to unintended acceleration.

Jan 27
All in all 8 models have stopped production across US plants

Toyota’s market capitalization has fallen to about 12.3 trillion yen ($136 billion) from about 12.9 trillion yen on Sept. 15, when it notified U.S. dealers to inspect how floor mats are installed on models after four people were killed in an accident. Today’s trading volume of 38.6 million shares was a record for the stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Models

The company said Jan. 26 it would suspend the U.S. sale and production of eight models involved in the Jan. 21 recall. Those models account for more than half its deliveries in the country and include its top-selling Camry and Corolla cars.

Models that were added yesterday to the November recall are 2008-2010 Highlander sport-utility vehicles; 2009-2010 Corolla compact cars; 2009-2010 Venza wagons; and the 2009-2010 Toyota Matrix hatchback. General Motors Co.’s 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe, a version of the Matrix, is also to be recalled, said Martha Voss, a Toyota spokeswoman.

Pampers on Conusmerism, Toyota Recall

MARKETINGPILGRIM.COM:PAMPERS

Every couple of months, we can reliably count on a big brand to help us learn a lesson about online reputation management. Today, we give thanks to P&G for today’s lesson:

The conversation starts when your customers say so, not you!

As AdAge reports, P&G has launched what it considers to be the most significant improvement in its Pampers line of diapers, in 25 years. Unfortunately, the company decided to start shipping the new diapers in old packaging, without explaining the benefits of the new pooper-protector.

Engineering this manufacturing overhaul meant putting the new diapers into the old packaging and into stores starting last summer in parts of the country. But because the new diapers had only reached a fraction of the U.S. by fall, P&G wasn’t ready to launch its campaign. Without marketing or communication, some consumers in early markets reacted strongly and spread the word virally to markets that did not yet have the diaper.

OK, who does that?

In this day and age of socially connected consumers; who launches a dramatically different product without also readying a TV, print, search, and social media campaign?

OK, maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe P&G just didn’t realize that it was heading towards such a consumer backlash…

"Similar to our experience in the past, when you change things, without articulating what the change is about, you will get consumers who complain," said Jodi Allen, VP-North American baby care at P&G.

[Jon Stewart'esque pause]

What the…??? You knew you’d get this consumer backlash??? Then why didn’t you have a plan in place to explain the benefits of the new diaper. Why didn’t you have a Twitter channel to answer questions from concerned parents? Where was the Facebook FAQ page to explain how the product will improve the lives of parents–and their babies?

If you’d taken the time to do the above, Rosana Shah of Baton Rouge, La, wouldn’t have felt compelled to launch her own Facebook page to warn other moms…

"…they’ve slipped this inferior diaper into the existing packaging without notifying the consumer."

At this point you could argue that this Pampers backlash is just a small minority. After all, the"Bring Back the Old Cruisers" fan page on Facebook had only 20 members as of last week. But, I’d point to the fact that new parents trust the opinions of experienced parents AND this "backlash" has now reached a wider audience–thanks to AdAge, and now us.

Fortunately, P&G doesn’t plan to just sit back and let a few upset consumers have their way…

Ms. Allen believes the tone will change quickly once P&G turns on marketing support, which will include a first-ever, pre-launch buzz campaign starting this month.

OK, that’s all well and good Ms. Allen, but you should have had this in place the moment you shipped your first revolutionary diaper. Heck, two months before you shipped it!

So, thank you P&G. Thank you for being yet another mega-brand that, despite its millions in marketing budget–and expert marketers to boot–failed to realize one of the most important lessons in reputation management.

You don’t get to decide when the conversation about your new product starts. So be prepared from day one!

Mead Johnson, erstwhile Bristol Myers Squibb division

Nestle is still in baby powders, so is Heinz(infant nutrition), Mead Johnson IPO and independence from BMS(BMY) here

Mead Johnson Has the Wrong Formula for Marketing: Sued Again for False Advertising

PBM Products, LLC, which makes infant formula for big box stores like Kroger, WalMart, Sam’s Club, and Target, sued Mead Johnson, claiming the Enfamil maker made false statements regarding its ENFAMIL baby formula.

Mead Johnson’s new direct mail campaign states ”Enfamil LIPIL’s unique formulation is not available in any store brand.” Worse, the suit claims, defendants display a picture of a blurry rubber ducky, implying that customers who give their babies anything other than Enfamil may endanger their child’s vision and brain development. In fact, PBM claims its product is identical to the defendant’s product, according to the lawsuit, which can be downloaded here.

Mead Johnson has been entangled with PBM in the past (and lost), both in litigation, and through challenges at the National Advertising Division (“NAD”). Mead Johnson has also been before the FTC after failing to comply with the NAD decision. Paul Manning, PBM’s CEO, claims that Mead Johnson has twice before made similar false claims, and in both instances, the court banned the company from making more false advertising claims about its products and forced Mead Johnson to make corrections to its advertising.

This lawsuit seems to be ruffling feathers throughout the regulatory world. NAD, the self-regulatory agency which works with advertisers to correct advertising problems without litigation, made a stmt cutting itself slack

JNJ Results

JNJ outscored all competition and own estimates for $166 billion despite personal losses to the kingdom and cinsumer recall issues

* Q4 EPS ex-items $1.02 vs 97-cent estimate

* Sees 2010 EPS $4.85-$4.95

* Shares fall 1.3 percent (Adds analyst, CEO quotes, updates shares)

By Ransdell Pierson and Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings, helped by sharply lower taxes and a return to solid growth for its array of medicines, medical devices and consumer products.

But the diversified healthcare company, which is traditionally conservative in its outlook, provided a 2010 profit forecast range that barely reached Wall Street projections. Its shares fell 1.3 percent.

J&J on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $2.2 billion, or 79 cents per share, compared with $2.71 billion, or 97 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding special items, including an $852 million restructuring charge, J&J earned $1.02 per share. Analysts on average had expected 97 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Company sales rose 9 percent to $16.55 billion, well above analyst predictions of $15.7 billion, helped by a recovering economy and newer products. By contrast, third-quarter sales fell 5.3 percent, hurt by generic competition for the company's Risperdal schizophrenia drug.(REUTERS)

Novartis Results

Novartis has already paid $11billion to Nestle last year for 25% and has agreed to pay another $28billion for 52% in Alcon still with Nestle. Hwvr, the remianing minority shareholders want the same or a fair deal while NVS expects a deep discount on the remaining

Results for December from the NY times

Drug maker Novartis (NYSE:NVS) AG on Tuesday reported a 54 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit to $2.32 billion on strong sales and favorable exchange rates, and announced the appointment of Joe Jimenez as its new chief executive.

Earnings per share rose 53 percent to $1.01 from $0.66 in the same quarter of 2008, when Novartis posted a net profit of $1.51 billion, the company said.

Sales of its products, which include the hypertension drug Diovan and anticancer drug Glivec -- known as Gleevec in the United States, rose 28 percent to $12.93 billion in the September-December period from $10.08 billion the previous year.

"The fourth quarter has been especially strong," outgoing CEO Daniel Vasella told reporters in a conference call, noting that Novartis benefited from better exchange rates and the shipment of large orders of swine flu vaccine in the final three months of 2009.

Interestingly, as mentioned otherwise as well, NVS did pursue a patent centric strategy and lost much blood in India/elsewhere. In the vaccines market also it refuses to get into emerging market specific pricing like GSK giving away free vaccines etc.

Also its $3.5 billion Diovan (2005) runs out of patent in 2012 . It has been creating Hypertension / BP reducing extensions, esp one with Pfizer..It also has a vaccine coy purchase from 2005. It expects Galvus to give $2 b in sales by then in the Type 2 Diabetes market. Indian drugmakers and others have also marked down NVS' Gleevec for patent challenges. Gleevec is its high volume drug in Cancer with another $3b in sales

Novartis is also going after the diabetes market with Galvus, a once-daily oral treatment for type 2 diabetes. Analysts project that the drug, filed in March, could hit $2.1 billion in sales by 2012, as it competes with Merck’s Januvia.

The biggest drug approval news for Novartis came from the generic division, which received clearance in the U.S. and EU for Omnitrope, which is not a biogeneric, but a ‘follow-on version of a previously approved recombinant biotechnology drug.’ That approval may open the door to a new era of follow-on biologics, as more of the pioneer biodrugs show their age.

ACQUISITIONS

Target: Chiron Corp.
Price: $5.4 billion
Announced: May 2006

Target: NeuTec Pharma
Price: $569 million
Announced: June 2006
More Vax

In September 2005, Novartis bid to acquire beleaguered biopharma/vaccine/blood testing company Chiron for approximately $5.1 billion, a sum representing the 58% of shares that Novartis didn’t already own. The deal finally closed at $5.4 billion, giving Novartis a position in the vaccines field, a $10.8 billion market that analysts project will grow at an annual 20% clip in the next five years.