Toyota recall due to hanging gas pedal
25.01.2010
B At the Japanese car company Toyota, cars continue to roll off the assembly line with possibly jammed gas pedals. 'We continue to build these cars,' the newspaper 'USA Today' quoted a Toyota spokesman on Tuesday (January 26). 'At some point we will have to make a decision - a decision to stop.'
Toyota RAV4 and Corolla are also affected by the US recall
Toyota has been under pressure for days. The car company has to recall 2.3 million vehicles because the accelerator pedal can get stuck in the depressed position. On Monday (January 25th) it became known that Toyota had known about the defect for weeks.
The Japanese have not yet found a solution to the technical problems. That is why the endangered types of cars are still being sold. Toyota says they are safe. It is unclear to what extent cars in Europe are also affected by the defect. At least one model - the RAV4 SUV - is sold in both markets. Toyota went public at the end of last week. The manufacturer justified the delay with the fact that the cases had only recently increased.
It could happen that the pedal gets stuck in the pressed position or only slowly returns to the starting position, warned the company on Thursday (January 21) in Torrance, California.
Toyota spoke of isolated cases in the past few months. Eight models from 2007 to 2010 are affected. Only last year did Toyota launched the largest recall since entering the US market in 1957. 4.2 million cars had to go to the workshops because a loose doormat threatened to get under the brake pedal. In some cases, the same models are affected by both security-related defects.
The two product recalls affected far more vehicles than Toyota last sold in the full year. That was just under 1.8 million in 2009; because of the economic crisis a decrease of a fifth compared to the previous year. Only US rival General Motors sold more vehicles in its home market. The RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Tundra and Sequoia models are affected by the recent recall. The subsidiary brands Lexus and Scion have no problems.
Recall also possible for European Toyota models
Eight models from 2007 to 2010 are affected by the recall. According to Toyota there have not yet been any accidents due to the defect. According to Japanese media reports, two million European Toyota vehicles could also be affected by the problems. The same accelerator pedals were installed in these as in the USA. Among other things, the RAV4 off-road vehicle is sold in both markets. According to Toyota Germany, it is currently being examined to what extent there are problems in this country.
