Toyota Recalls 437,000 Hybrid Vehicles to Fix Brakes
Feb. 9, 2010 – Officials for the Toyota Motor Corporation today announced a recall of another 437,000 hybrid vehicles due to braking problems, including its popular Prius hybrid model.
The latest recall by Toyota is for its Lexus HS259h hybrid sedan, the Sai hybrid compact sedan and the Prius hybrid. Company officials say a simple software fix will eliminate potential braking problems when the vehicles are driven over uneven terrain and take about 40 minutes to complete at local Toyota dealerships. Owners have complained of vehicle braking systems not operating properly when driving over speed bumps and other uneven surfaces.
Toyota has recalled nearly 10 million vehicles worldwide, and company officials are scrambling to maintain the Toyota’s reputation for building quality vehicles.
“Let me assure everyone that we will redouble our commitment to quality as the lifeline of our company,” Toyota chief executive Akio Toyoda said during today’s news conference announcing the additional recall.
The recall comes in addition to the about 9 million vehicles across eight model lines Toyota officials recently have recalled already worldwide – including about 2.3 million vehicles in the United States.
Officials for the U.S. National Highway Traffic Highway and Safety Administration recently opened an investigation into the high number of complaints federal officials have received regarding braking issues with the Toyota Prius, which was not among the eight models and 9 million vehicles worldwide the auto manufacturer recently recalled due to problems with the gas pedal sticking and causing sudden acceleration.
Federal officials said combining all the complaints received on all eight recalled 2010 Toyota models wouldn’t amount to half of the 171 complaints already received on the 2010 Toyota Prius. Some 124 of the complaints about the Prius focus on similar braking issues. By comparison, Toyota recalled its Corolla model, which only had 33 complaints thus far in 2010.
Toyota earlier recalled several popular vehicles models for problems with the gas pedal, claiming a floor mat could cause the accelerator to stick. But the company expanded the recall when the initial fix failed to fully address problems with its popular Camry sedan and other models.
The Japanese automaker has recalled all Camry models manufactured from 2007 to 2010 as well as 2009 through current-year models Corolla, Matrix and the RAV4. Also recalled are the 2005 through 2010 Avalon, the 2008 through 2010 Sequoia and the 2010 Highlander. The recall covers about 9 million vehicles sold in North America, China and Europe.
Toyota officials say the combined recall efforts could cost the company about $2 billion. Toyota is the world’s largest manufacturer of automobiles and recently overtook bankrupted General Motors as the auto industry’s top seller.