Toyota Considers Corolla Recall Over Steering Problems

[VVTi]

Embattled Japanese carmaker Toyota is considering a recall for the Corolla, the world's best-selling car.

It said no decision had been made as it was still looking into complaints over the power-steering on the Corolla - which is not sold in the UK.

Toyota also denied any cover-up as the US investigates whether it was quick enough in recalling millions of cars over problems affecting other models.

The US car safety watchdog has ordered a probe into Toyota's recalls.

Toyota said it would "co-operate to provide all the information they have requested" on the US inquiry.

The carmaker said potential complaints with the Corolla in the US currently numbered less than 100.

The Corolla has not been sold in the UK since early 2007, when the Auris model took over.

New brake system

ANALYSIS

Roland Buerk, Toyko correspondent

By Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo

Just when Toyota's problems were dropping out of the headlines, in Japan at least, the company's recall crisis could be about to widen.

After recalls over accelerators sticking or getting snagged in floor mats, and brakes, the issue now may be with the power steering in the Corolla, the world's best-selling car.

That executives chose to mention the Corolla when they say they are not certain there is a problem with the car says a lot about the pressure Toyota is under in the United States.

There's a Congressional hearing in Washington on the accelerator issue next week and US officials are demanding documents to establish if Toyota organized recalls in a 'timely manner' after reports of cars speeding out of control.

In a wide-ranging press conference in Tokyo, Toyota president Akio Toyoda said that the carmaker would add a brake-override system to all new Toyota vehicles as it seeks to recover from a global car recall.

The new system will cut engine power when the accelerator and brakes are applied at the same time.

And Mr Toyoda denied that the firm had tried to cover up its problems. "We have not withheld information and we shall not do so in the future," he told reporters.

He also said that he would not be attending a US Congressional hearing into the recalls set for 24 February.

Instead, Toyota's US executives will go, as Mr Toyoda focuses on the firm's quality issues.

He also said it would create a new global quality committee. The newly-announced Special Committee for Global Quality will hold its first meeting on 30 March.

US investigation

On Wednesday, the carmaker took out full-page adverts in major Japanese newspapers to apologise for the recent recalls.

TOYOTA RECALLS: STORY SO FAR

September 2007, US: 55,000 Camry and Lexus cars in floormat recall

October 2009, US: 3.8m Toyota and Lexus vehicles recalled due to floormat problem

November 2009, US: floormat recall increased to 4.2m vehicles

January 2010, US: 2.3m Toyota vehicles recalled due to accelerator pedal problems (of those, 2.1m already involved in floormat recall)

January 2010, US: 1.1m Toyotas in floormat recall

February 2010, Europe: 1.8m Toyota's in pedal recall

February 2010, Japan, US: 200 reports of brake faults in new Prius. Cars recalled

February 2010, worldwide: 436,000 hybrid vehicles in brake recall. Also, 7,300 Camry vehicles recalled in the USover potential brake tube problems

February 2010, US: 8,000 Tacoma pick-up trucks recalled over concerns aboutdefective shafts

Q&A: Toyota recalls

Toyota is continuing to recall 8.5 million vehicles worldwide because of problems linked to faulty accelerator pedals, accelerator pedals getting stuck in floor mats, and braking systems.

The saga began in the US with reports that accelerator pedals were getting caught under the floor mats.

The Japanese car giant began taking back vehicles potentially affected by that problem in October last year and Toyota redesigned the mats.

The floor mat issue affected a number of vehicles in the US, but not in the UK.

Later, separate acceleration problems were found to be caused by the pedal sticking.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Tuesday that it wanted to find out if Toyota conducted the recent recalls "in a timely manner".

The NHTSA said it was "requiring Toyota to provide documents showing when and how it learned of the defects affecting approximately six million vehicles in the US alone".

It said federal law required all carmakers to notify it within five days of discovering a safety recall, and to conduct a recall promptly.

Responding to the NHTSA, Toyota said it took responsibility for vehicle safety seriously and also recognised its responsibility to alert government officials of any safety issue "in a timely manner".

Toyota announced on 26 January that was suspending sales and production of eight models in the US, as it sought to resolve its problems.

[MasterDon]

oh how the mighty is falling

there must some kind of jinx attached with the No.1 auto manufacturer title...lol...first it was GM now it toyota

[VVTi]

Wonder if the prices will start falling here now....

[sonick]

lot of 141 owners complain here of the petrol consumption..i just talked to a friend who now travels by bus to reduce costs..haha..

anyway i heard camry,corolla,prius all were models which were recalled in USA...

[Rebel]

A few cars of almost all the models were recalled for the initial gas pedal issue.

The latest issue is specific to corolla it seems.

[kavinga]

I guess the time has come for the toyota. already Volkswagen Steals Toyota's crown. When comparing to GM ford and toyota, Hyundai doing great with the new genesis sedan and coupe. Genesis looks amazing

Edited February 19, 2010 by kavinga

[MAS]

I wonder how the people who owns new Toyota's (especially in Sri Lanka) feel about the recent major recalls.

Especially the owners who look down and talk low of other manufacturers.

So now Sri Lanka's strange Toyota car market will go down ?

[VVTi]

Where are our resident Toyota experts?

[madmax]

Word is popping up that there is more of media circus about this (perhaps backed by US automakers and their stakeholders) than the actual problem

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q1/...ivers-editorial

Edited February 20, 2010 by madmax

[xXx]

these recalls do they apply to every single corrolla build by toyota irrespective of the manufacturing plant they came out of or does it only apply to cars coming out of certain manufacturing plant or cars catered to a certain region????

if it’s the latter one then the local owners have nothing to fear. correct?

[Ruslan]

Word is popping up that there is more of media circus about this (perhaps backed by US automakers and their stakeholders) than the actual problem

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q1/...ivers-editorial

Spot on mate.. now they got someone common to bash..they waited for this moment!! these kinda things is normal even this news is bit alien to us. i bet this will have any effect on local car market since majority of our local imports are either couple of years old or Japanese domestic models that you cant do anything even if those vehicles got problems? and when it comes to After sales service, Sri Lankan Consumer laws sucks big time!!.. be it Toyota or any other brand or any consumer product..

[VVTi]

Funny things is, it seems therre have been 34 deaths SINCE 2000, but only now they are speaking about them and now they are all connecting them to Toyota...

[rangerover]

Nissan had recalls of the sunny variant sometime back, so did many other brands. I guess its part of the trade. But now this had affected toyota, the very company that took down americas' best, GM. And its best selling car has been affected. So no wonder the american media and the supreme court is making such a big deal. Trying to cheaply regain some reputation in the american motor industry!

[Pericles]

I wonder how the people who owns new Toyota's (especially in Sri Lanka) feel about the recent major recalls.

Especially the owners who look down and talk low of other manufacturers.

So now Sri Lanka's strange Toyota car market will go down ?

My guess is, no effect at all. Most people here wouldn't even be aware of the recalls. Only ppl who follow motoring news. It doesn't make the normal news channels so normal average joes wouldn't know about it.

[VVTi]

My guess is, no effect at all. Most people here wouldn't even be aware of the recalls. Only ppl who follow motoring news. It doesn't make the normal news channels so normal average joes wouldn't know about it.

Agreed. Our company has 2 141s and the Admin Manager is someone who will find it hard to believe that a Toyota ever gets recalled...

[madmax]

My guess is, no effect at all. Most people here wouldn't even be aware of the recalls. Only ppl who follow motoring news. It doesn't make the normal news channels so normal average joes wouldn't know about it.

Also the local agents are only responsible for vehicles they bring down. And customer service is not the number one priority in our kind of market.

[charitha19]

aclerater pedal gets stuck... come on.. our buggers here will just fix the issue say its one of a kind since the pedal issue is not there.. and sell it for even more....

[VVTi]

Hummer to close after collapse of Chinese deal

By Chris Isidore, senior writerFebruary 24, 2010: 4:52 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors' deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese automaker fell through Wednesday and the company said it now plans to shut down the brand.

GM did not give any details about why the agreement to sell Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. Ltd. could not be completed, saying only that it was disappointed it was unable to close the deal. The large SUV brand is based on the Humvee military vehicle. It was always a niche vehicle but its image and sales were hit particularly hard by rising gasoline prices earlier this decade. Last year, GM only sold 9,046 Hummers, down 67% from 2008.

Hummer is the third brand that GM is being forced to shut down as part of its bankruptcy reorganization last year. A deal to sell Saturn fell through and GM is also closing the Pontiac brand, which it never attempted to sell.

Chinese automakers have shown interest in buying established western brands as companies there strive to become more global players. Geely is in the process of buying the Volvo brand from Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) and Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co. bought the rights and technology to build some Saab models in China from GM. To top of page

Dang!!! First Saab... now this! In the case of Saab, it is indeed a shame.

[Pericles]

Geely is in the process of buying Volvo?!? What the heck is happening to this world?!