>> Vietnam must inspect Toyota over technical faults
>> Toyota Vietnam admits technical flaws, rules out recall
Toyota Vietnam has suspended for three months an engineer who exposed its technical faults in manufacturing leading to the biggest vehicle recall in Vietnamese history earlier this year.
 |
| Mr. Le Van Tach |
During the period, the company will still pay 50% of salary to Le Van Tach.
On June 11 Tach received the suspension notice on the grounds that he negatively affected work and had a bad influence on the prestige of colleagues.
Tach said after exposing several technical flaws in Toyota cars assembled in Vietnam, he had received threats and insults from colleagues.
On May 31 Tach sent a complaint to the general director that seven senior officials had insulted and threatened him. He wanted the company to apologize and compensate him.
But the general director replied that the accusations lacked evidence.
The company said after an investigation that many of the employees had “only joked” while some did not remember or spoke in an individual capacity and not on behalf of the company.
It thus ruled out paying compensation or tendering an apology.
“I am very surprised the general director of Toyota Vietnam tries to deny the truth to evade responsibility,” Tach said.
Tran Quoc Hung, head of Toyota Vietnam’s planning department, told Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper Sunday that the suspension was not related to Tach’s whistle-blowing but to his baseless accusations that caused disunity among employees.
“Tach has accused a number of individuals in the company and requested the company for compensation. After investigation, we found that such acts are not related to production activities and caused rifts within the company.
“This [suspension] is necessary for Tach to consider his recent acts,” Hung said, adding the suspension was in line with the labor law and company regulations.
April 1 press conference
On April 1, Toyota production director for Vietnam Tadashi Yoshida had told the media that he welcomed employees’ contributions towards improving products.
“Tach will not be fired or discriminated,” he had said.
Due to Tach’s expose, since April this year, Toyota Vietnam has recalled over 70,000 cars for problems related to bolts, pressure and seats.
In the latest recall - on June 7, the company announced that it will offer free checks for oil pressure on 6,108 Innova J cars produced between December 26, 2005 and November 24, 2010.
On April 15, Toyota Vietnam officially offered an apology and released a recall plan on 65,703 cars including a mere 167 Innova J vehicles.
The company earlier had announced a recall on 278 Camry cars.
Hero or villain?
Tach in late April received the “Responsibility Prize” from the Center for Research on Communication Development under Hanoi-based Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association.
He was lauded for his efforts in ensuring the benefits of more than 650,000 consumers in Vietnam and road safety.
Tach said during the award ceremony that he had told Toyota bosses many times about the technical flaws but they had paid no heed or even threatened him.
“I understand that Toyota Vietnam is a big enterprise with a brand name and trusted by many consumers. But the way it acted, shying away from responsibility and announcing false information, is surprising".
“They initially said only 8,830 vehicles [actual number is over 70,000] suffered from technical faults and announced the flaws would not affect quality”, Tach said at the awarding ceremony.
