????2011年的最終統(tǒng)計(jì)結(jié)果顯示，汽車制造商日本豐田汽車公司（Toyota Motor）已經(jīng)從世界排名首位下滑至第三位，產(chǎn)量居通用汽車（General Motors）和大眾汽車（Volkswagen）之后。這一結(jié)果并不出人意料。過去三年間，豐田公司遭遇了一系列天災(zāi)人禍，甚至使豐田舉世聞名的偏執(zhí)主義傾向似乎也帶上了樂觀主義的積極色彩。公司遭遇的最近一次打擊源自日元升值，堅(jiān)挺的日元讓豐田所有本土產(chǎn)品成本上升，進(jìn)而從根本上對(duì)公司利潤(rùn)率造成了沖擊?！镀囆侣劇罚ˋutomotive News）雜志11月刊預(yù)測(cè)豐田即將面臨更多的“不幸”，比如“銷售額下滑，泰國(guó)洪災(zāi)影響持續(xù)存在，潛在客戶群購(gòu)買意向出現(xiàn)搖擺”等等。

????豐田遭遇這一切的時(shí)候，統(tǒng)領(lǐng)全局的是一位天生注定要登上公司總裁寶座的年輕人，但他在危機(jī)管理方面并無(wú)多少經(jīng)驗(yàn)。他就是豐田公司創(chuàng)始人之孫——豐田章男。過去十年里，豐田公司一直由職業(yè)經(jīng)理人打理。其間，豐田章男不動(dòng)聲色地沿著企業(yè)內(nèi)部晉升階梯拾級(jí)而上。2009年，他臨危受命，出任公司總裁，一上任就必須立刻著手處理全球范圍業(yè)務(wù)衰退、大規(guī)模召回以及嚴(yán)重的海嘯危機(jī)等難題。汽車產(chǎn)量嚴(yán)重跳水，公司最重要的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)——高品質(zhì)聲譽(yù)也行將喪失。豐田章男在美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)公開道歉，隨后全美都在YouTube上看到了他落淚致歉的視頻。豐田公司在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)的份額也下跌不少。2009年底，豐田的市場(chǎng)份額還高居18.3%，2011年就已經(jīng)一路跌至12.9%。競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者借由豐田召回事件這一機(jī)會(huì)大力唱衰，聲稱一度被汽車業(yè)界認(rèn)為勢(shì)不可擋的豐田而今已淪為平庸的配角。

????但我也聽到了不同的聲音。有觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為豐田公司極好地應(yīng)對(duì)了海嘯危機(jī)，召回事件也對(duì)其敲響了警鐘，從而改變了其原先志得意滿的心態(tài)。這位新總裁本人極為重視公司產(chǎn)品，在他的大力推動(dòng)下，公司與客戶的關(guān)系得到了良好地重建。

????密歇根大學(xué)（the University of Michigan）的杰弗瑞萊克是一位研究豐田公司的頂尖學(xué)者，他告訴我：“豐田章男讓公司重新獲得了活力。他承諾要做一位離實(shí)際工作前線最近的總裁?！?/p>

????豐田章男更頻繁地前往美國(guó)，以激勵(lì)經(jīng)銷商，并親自解決雷克薩斯（Lexus）品牌業(yè)績(jī)低迷的問題。獨(dú)立調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，豐田在質(zhì)量和價(jià)值方面的聲譽(yù)正逐步恢復(fù)。2012年，豐田將推出19款新車型和重新設(shè)計(jì)的車型。數(shù)量之大，超乎尋常。新推出的車型顯示，普銳斯（Prius）混合動(dòng)力車產(chǎn)品線得到了大力擴(kuò)展，豐田快車似乎已經(jīng)做好了準(zhǔn)備，誓要重拾往昔的發(fā)展勢(shì)頭。

????When the final tally was made for 2011, Toyota Motor (TM), formerly the world's largest automaker, slipped to third place in production behind General Motors (GM) and Volkswagen. It's not surprising: Toyota has endured a string of calamities over the past three years -- natural and man-made -- that would make even the company's famous paranoia seem like sunny optimism. The latest is endaka, the strong yen that causes everything that Toyota manufactures in Japan to be more expensive and undermines its profitability. A November issue of Automotive News predicted "more misery" for Toyota as "sales slip, floods delay, shoppers stray."

????At the head of the company all this time has been a young president who was effectively born into the job and has little experience in crisis management: Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder. For a decade, while the automaker was being run by professional managers, Akio rose up the corporate ladder without making much of a mark. (For the sake of clarity, we'll use his first name, pronounced a-KEY-o, in this story.) Thrust into the presidency in 2009, he immediately had to cope with a global recession, massive recalls, and a deadly tsunami. Auto production plummeted, and at the same time Toyota lost its most important competitive advantage: its reputation for exceptional quality. Americans saw Akio apologizing before Congress and later tearing up in a YouTube video. U.S. market share tumbled. After reaching 18.3% at the end in 2009, it fell all the way to 12.9% for 2011. Emboldened by the recall crisis, competitors spread word that Toyota, once considered the unstoppable force of the automotive world, had been reduced to the status of also-ran.

????But I had been hearing different things -- that Toyota had coped remarkably well with the tsunami, and that the recall crisis had served as a wake-up call for a company grown complacent. With a big boost from its new president, who took an intensely personal interest in its products, it was connecting with customers again.

????The University of Michigan's Jeffrey Liker, a leading Toyota scholar, told me, "Akio has reenergized the company. He's promised to be the closest president ever to the gemba [where the real work is happening]."

????The Toyoda scion was traveling to the U.S. more frequently to fire up dealers and had taken charge personally of the sagging Lexus brand. Independent studies were beginning to show that Toyota cars were regaining their reputation for quality and value. With 19 new or redesigned models coming in calendar 2012 -- an exceptionally large number -- including a big expansion of the Prius hybrid line, the Toyota steamroller seemed ready to regain its old momentum.