Toyota has long been regarded as the auto industry’s gold standard in terms of reliability, but its reputation has taken some damage as of late. This was mostly the result of its V35A twin-turbo V6 failing in popular models like the Tundra and Tacoma, forcing Toyota to recall approximately 270,000 vehicles. And then there’s Ford with its record-setting run of recalls, casting a shadow over its entire lineup.
In short, Honda has some real inspiration to not fall into the same traps as its notable rivals. So the company decided to take a good look at the quality control problems plaguing other manufacturers to make sure it avoids these pitfalls.
Honda Is Taking Proactive Steps To Safeguard Reliability
2025 Honda Civic Sedan Hybrid ExteriorHonda
The Drive recently spoke with Honda Motor Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara and American Honda CEO Eiji Fujimura, gaining insights into the company’s evolving quality control measures. On the one hand, Fujimura recognizes the need to keep up with China in the adoption of new technologies, but he emphasizes that Honda is unwilling to sacrifice reliability for the sake of production volume.
“We have very good trust from our clients and very good customer loyalty, and we can’t sacrifice that trust for speed,” Fujimura told The Drive. “We will not compete with them [China and India] just on speed – we need to use our traditions and our thinking.” Kaihara went on to provide a more detailed explanation of what this philosophy means in practice.
How Exactly Is Honda Mitigating Quality Control Risks?
Honda
“Right now, we look at the whole process, including development,” said Kaihara. “This means nothing should move to the next step without confirming the previous step’s quality. That’s our quality control system.” He then proceeded to explain that Honda tries to take every possible variable into account.
“They follow a system, and then they do so independently, so they can point out if something is broken and why it happened – or if this component is going into a very hot area or a cold area, so then what will happen?” Kaihara acknowledges that things can still go wrong, especially as cars are becoming increasingly complex.
In this scenario, he highlights the need to find and implement the proper solutions in a timely manner to prevent further reputational damage. “If you leave a customer with a bad-quality vehicle and, on top of that, also a delay with the countermeasure, that will cause really bad damage. Sometimes you just have to take quick action.”
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Honda has been dealing with its own recall problems recently, including close to two million vehicles at risk of rear suspension rust or airbag sensor malfunction called out in June. But it’s good to at least know that measures are being taken to reduce the likelihood of such issues recurring in the future, and other manufacturers may want to start following Honda’s lead if they’re not doing so already.
With a huge number of cars already recalled in 2026, it’s important that automakers get their act together sooner rather than later. Because, at the end of the day, recalls aren’t just inconvenient for customers and bad for companies’ reputations, but they also incur a very real financial burden at a time when cost-cutting initiatives are at the forefront of everyone’s business strategy.
Source: The Drive
