NEWS:
Toyota halts US sales
of 8 recalled models
YAHOO NEWS -- Jan 26, 2010
-- Toyota is suspending U.S. sales of eight
car and truck models to fix sticking gas
pedals and halting
production lines at plants from
Texas to
Canada to deal with the problem, the
latest to confront the world's No. 1
automaker.
The suspended sales,
announced Tuesday, involve a significant
portion of Toyota Motor Co.'s fleet and some
of its most popular vehicles, including the
Camry and Corolla. As part of the plan,
Toyota is halting some production at five
assembly plants beginning the week of Feb. 1
"to assess and coordinate activities."
There are 2.3 million
vehicles involved in the recall, which was
announced last week. Toyota has said it was
unaware of any accidents or injuries due to
the pedal problems associated with the
recall, but could not rule them out for
sure.
"This action is necessary
until a remedy is finalized," said Bob
Carter, Toyota's group vice president and
general manager.
The Japanese automaker
said the sales suspension includes the
following models: the 2009-2010 RAV4, the
2009-2010 Corolla, the 2007-2010 Camry, the
2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the
2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and
the 2008-2010 Sequoia.
Models
covered by the latest recall
include the
Aaron Bragman, an auto
analyst for the consulting firm IHS
Global Insight in Troy, Mich., said
Toyota typically sells about 65,000 Camrys
and Corollas a month, and the frozen sales
could strike the company's bottom line and
reputation for quality.
"That's huge if they can't
sell these and they don't have a fix
identified. They need to go and get a
solution to this fast," Bragman said.
Toyota sold more than
34,000 Camrys in December, making the
midsize sedan America's best-selling car. It
commands 3.4 percent of the U.S. market and
sales rose 38 percent from a year earlier.
Sales of the Corolla and Matrix, a small
sedan and a hatchback, totaled 34,220 last
month, with 3.3 percent of the market and
sales up nearly 55 percent from December of
2008.
It was unclear how long
Toyota would suspend production of the
vehicles. In an e-mail to employees, company
officials said, "we don't know yet how long
this pause will last but we will make every
effort to resume production soon."
Toyota officials did not
immediately return phone messages.
The automaker said the
move would affect plants in
Princeton, Ind., Lafayette, Ind.,
Georgetown, Ky.,
San Antonio, Texas, and a facility in
Ontario, Canada. About 300 workers
who build V8 engines at a Toyota plant in
Huntsville, Ala., will also be affected,
said Stephanie Deemer, a spokeswoman for the
plant.
Deemer said workers there
would have the option of receiving
additional training, take vacation or unpaid
leave.
Toyota said no other North
American Toyota facility would be affected
by the decision.
Toyota dealers said they
were concerned the move would hamper sales
and were hopeful parts to fix the problem
could be distributed quickly.
"They're going the extra
mile to reassure people that they really
care about the customers," said
Earl Stewart, owner of a
Toyota dealership in North Palm
Beach, Fla. "It is something that's going to
be at least a short-term hardship on the
dealers, and especially on Toyota."
The auto company said the
sales suspension would not affect Lexus or
Scion vehicles. Toyota said the Prius,
Tacoma, Sienna, Venza,
Solara, Yaris, 4Runner,
FJ Cruiser,
Land Cruiser and select Camry models,
including all
Camry hybrids, would remain for sale.
Toyota said last week it
was recalling 2.3 million vehicles in the
U.S. to fix accelerator pedals with
mechanical problems that could cause them to
become stuck.
The announcement followed
a larger recall months earlier of 4.2
million vehicles because of problems with
gas pedals becoming trapped under floor
mats, causing sudden acceleration. That
problem was the cause of several crashes,
including some fatalities.
