Post date: Oct 21, 2010 7:44:36 PM
The world's leading automaker, Toyota Motor Corp, recalls 1.66 million cars. Its third major recall for the year.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 21, 2010) REUTERS - Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday (October 21) it would repair 1.66 million Avalon and other vehicles, mostly in Japan and the United States, in the latest large-scale recall to plague the world's biggest automaker.
The announcement came less than two months after a recall in Canada and the United States of 1.3 million Corolla and Matrix cars carrying defective engine control modules that could cause the vehicles to stall.
Toyota had already recalled over 10 million vehicles in the past year, mostly for unintended acceleration, denting its reputation for quality and attracting intense scrutiny from U.S. safety regulators.
According to auto-industry veteran Jeremy Anwyl, the CEO of Edmonds.com - an automobile buying guide, this third recall of 2010 is a different issue for Toyota than previous problems with their models, and much more straightforward.
"This is actually very different. This is a routine recall. It's a safety related issue. Consumers should have plenty of warnings if the vehicle has a problem," said Anwyl. "So I would take it seriously, it's obviously a safety issue, but I wouldn't panic, I would just schedule an appointment at the dealership, get the car in and get it fixed."
Toyota said it would recall 740,000 Avalon, Highlander, Lexus GS300, IS250 and IS350 cars in the United States to replace a brake master cylinder seal because there was a possibility that some brake fluid could leak from the cylinder, causing the brake warning lamp to light up.
In Japan, Toyota is recalling about 600,000 vehicles spanning 11 models including the high-end Crown sedan, either for the master cylinder seal or defective fuel pump wiring or both. It is recalling 60,000 vehicles in China.
Toyota will decide whether to file an official recall in other markets in line with safety regulations in each market, Tokyo-based spokesman Paul Nolasco said. The cars subject to those repairs -- totaling 1.53 million -- are sold worldwide, including in Europe, South America, Africa and Oceania.
"The other thing with Toyota is that they've sort of been the brand of default for a lot of people that just didn't want to worry about their vehicles. They didn't want to worry about quality. They didn't want to worry about safety, and that's sort of been called into question, because of all this, you know, all this publicity they've been getting pretty much all year," explained Anwyl.
"So I think they've been recovering from that, but I don't think they're out of the woods. And anytime you have a new recall, it sort of raises those questions all over again."
No accidents were reported from the three defects, Toyota said. Toyota does not disclose estimates for recall costs, and had no comment on whether the repairs would have any impact on its earnings.
For car buyers in New York, the new round of recalls was not disconcerting.
"It doesn't really bother me, no. I think that Toyota's a responsible company, and they probably have taken car of it and been responsible and done responsible things," said Beth a car buyer from Brooklyn.
"I've had a Toyota since 2001, actually, so I love Toyotas. I think the design is beautiful and they've been very reliable for me," she added.
"I think what is says to me is that this time the recall occurred on their own initiative - to come out and say 'we got a problem here; we've got to resolve it.' That's sort of comforting knowing that they're being proactive, so I'm sticking with the Toyota product," said Jim Pearson, another loyal customer.
Toyota has blamed at least part of the quality slip over the past year on its rapid expansion during the past decade, when it overtook General Motors Co as the world's top-selling car maker. GM had its share of big recalls this year. In March, it announced a recall of 1.3 million compact cars, and another one three months later for 1.5 million trucks and cars.
"I think they would agree that they let quality sort of slip away from them a little bit. If you take a look at this year though, the number of recalls across the industry from every manufacturer has shot up. And I think it's really a reflection of the sort of intense focus that was put on safety earlier this year, and every car company wants to get in front of that. So we're seeing the pace of recalls picking up for everybody," said Anwyl.
Toyota's shares, which have grown largely immune to recall news, ended up 0.4 percent at 2,900 yen in Tokyo. Other Japanese automakers' shares and the broader market fell on Thursday.