TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday that it will recall an additional 1.09 million vehicles in the United States, and extended its recall to Europe, the latest blow to the world’s top automaker as it struggles to salvage its safety reputation.
The announcements come after the company said earlier this week that it was suspending U.S. sales of eight models — including the Camry, America’s top-selling car — to fix faulty gas pedals that could stick and cause acceleration without warning.
Toyota said the new U.S. recall would affect five models — 2008-2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Venza, 2009-2010 Matrix and 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe. Toyota has already recalled 4.26 million vehicles in the U.S. over floor mat problems.
In Europe, Toyota is still unsure how many vehicles are affected.
Colin Hensley, a manager at the car maker’s European operations, said the company is checking how many European models use the parts involved in the latest U.S. recall.
The automaker said it would communicate with European owners of vehicles that are affected by the problem of sticking pedals. “Toyota is making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible,” it said.
Fix in the works
Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma said Toyota decided to recall more vehicles in the U.S. due to the risk of accelerator pedals becoming stuck in floor mats.
The company said in a statement it will fix or replace the accelerator pedals and floor mats for the recalled vehicles to avoid the risk of floor mat entrapment.
Toyota said earlier that production has begun on redesigned pedals to fix the problems.
In March of 2007, Toyota started getting reports of gas pedals being slow to rise after being depressed for acceleration. Engineers fixed the problem in the Tundra pickup early in 2008.
But troubles persisted in other models, eventually leading to last week’s U.S. recall and the plans to suspend sales and shut down of six factories while Toyota tries to fix the problems.
Cars sold in Japan do not use the parts in question.
‘Investors are worried’
The sales suspension in the U.S. — Toyota’s biggest market — could endanger the company’s fledgling earnings recovery. Toyota only returned to the black for the July-September quarter with net income of 21.8 billion yen, or $241 million, after three straight losing quarters.
“It is still uncertain how this recall problem will affect Toyota’s profits. But investors are worried it could really pressure the company’s overall earnings,” said Masatoshi Sato, market analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. Ltd.
Via: MSNBC Business.com
