Carma Project And Toyota Boost Engagement Via Innovative Peer-To-Peer Platform To Accelerate Takata Airbag Recall Repairs
First-ever program offers individuals incentives for alerting friends and family about deadly airbags
COSTA MESA, Calif., Dec. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Newly established peer-to-peer safety platform Carma Project today launched the first-ever social and incentive-based program designed exclusively for accelerating consumer response to automotive recalls. Carma Project's initial foray heads to market through a unique collaboration with Toyota Motor North America (TMNA).
Carma Project will further help address the recall of deadly Takata airbags, which is labeled "the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history" by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall continues to impact vehicles built by 19 different automakers, with a projected 70 million airbags expected to be recalled by the end of 2019. In the face of more than a dozen deaths and hundreds of alleged injuries industry-wide, millions of drivers and passengers continue to be at risk.
Despite extensive efforts by manufacturers, such as recall letters, public service announcements, and dealer interventions, consumer response to fixing these potentially life-threatening airbags continues to be lower than hoped, with 1 out of every 3 affected airbags still unrepaired.
"We know that friends and family can play a powerful role in influencing how people make decisions about safety," said Toyota Motor North America's Vice President of Product Quality and Service Support Tom Trisdale. "Our partnership with Carma Project is designed to motivate and incentivize people to share critical information about the recall, including how to get the remedy for free."
Carma Project was designed to facilitate the process of people helping people by alerting them to life-threatening automotive recalls. By combining the trust of word-of-mouth communication within a game design that infuses incentives for individuals alerting their friends and family, Carma Project hopes to connect Toyota with hard-to-reach owners who haven't responded to the Takata recall.
"We've built a similar solution in healthcare and have seen it work," said Carma Project CEO Fabio Gratton. "Companies struggle to identify participants for clinical trials, because they are hard to find and oftentimes ignore industry outreach. But a friend or family member has that trust, access, and influence to ensure that those people learn about these trials and ultimately receive those potentially life-saving medications. We're confident that this approach will work in the automotive world, especially when combined with our incentive model."
In connection with Toyota's support of the Carma Project, people can earn financial rewards by signing up for Carma Project and sharing Takata airbag recall information with their friends and family. A simple license plate photo or typing a VIN into a recall lookup tool on Carma Project's website allows involved Toyota, Lexus, and Scion owners to immediately take action and book an appointment for a free Takata airbag fix. Referring individuals can also earn financial rewards for every eligible Toyota, Lexus, or Scion that is fixed.
"As more automotive manufacturers join Carma Project, more incentives will be added, ultimately leading to our mission of eradicating this ongoing problem," Mr. Gratton further explained.
To learn more about the program, how it works, and to sign-up, please visit www.CarmaProject.com.
About Carma Project
Established in 2018, Carma Project is dedicated to improving consumer safety through its innovative technology platform that uses peer-to-peer influence and incentives to accelerate consumer response to automotive recalls. Carma Project was established by SONIC Health, LLC.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 36 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 47,000 people (more than 37,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2017 – and about 87 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.
SOURCE Carma Project
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