Toyota Recalls More Vehicles
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| The latest recall comes after Toyota issued its biggest ever safety recall affecting 4.2 million vehicles late last year over sudden acceleration, which the company said was caused by improperly installed floor mats. Most of the vehicles in Thursday's announcement—1.7 million—were part of the earlier action "In recent months, Toyota has investigated isolated reports of sticking accelerator pedal mechanisms in certain vehicles without the presence of floor mats," Toyota Group Vice President Irv Miller said in a statement. Toyota's investigation found that "in rare instances" the gas pedal can get stuck in a partially depressed position. This is the first time Toyota has acknowledged that an issue beyond floor mat entrapment could be a factor in the cases of sudden acceleration, some of which have been fatal. It adds pressure on Toyota whose image as a safety and quality leader has come under threat by a string of recalls in the U.S. "Toyota will continue to investigate incidents of unwanted acceleration and take appropriate measures to address any trends that are identified," the company said. The succession of safety issues comes after the company's decade-long expansion in the U.S. market. For years, the auto maker was aggressively growing in the North American market, opening new assembly plants and investing heavily in creating new models designed for the U.S., such as the Tundra pickup. President Akio Toyoda last year apologized to the company's customers affected by the earlier recall and has acknowledged that the company has drifted away from its core value of focusing on the customer. At the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, Toyota's top U.S. executive, Yoshi Inaba, said the measures the company is taking to correct the floor mat entrapment "addresses the root cause" of the consumer complaints of sudden acceleration. The measures include trimming the length of the gas pedal, changing the braking system, and in some cases altering the floor under the accelerator. Toyota is also installing a new brake override system on all of its vehicles. In Thursday's recall, Toyota said worn mechanisms in the gas pedal make it harder to depress the accelerator that in the worst cases gets stuck in a partially depressed position. The company said a firm application of the brakes without pumping can control the vehicle. Only vehicles in the company's Toyota division vehicles were affected by the recall—not its Lexus and Scion products. The vehicles recalled are: the 2009-2010 model year RAV4 cross-over vehicle, Corolla and Matrix sedans; the 2005-2010 Avalon sedan, the 2007-2010 Toyota Camry; the 2007-2010 Tundra pickup, the 2008-2010 Sequoia sports-utility vehicle; and the 2010 Highlander SUV. "Toyota has a widespread problem of unintended acceleration across multiple years, makes and models," said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies, a Massachusetts-based safety research firm. "What we are seeing is more than one root cause. We feel that there is more too this and there clearly is growing evidence of electronic-related problems." |
Source: Toyota Recalls More Vehicles
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