Global General

Toyota fears greater damage from latest recall

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-02-02 15:40

NAGOYA, Japan: A Toyota executive said the damage to the company's sales from its global recall for a gas pedal problem may be greater than previous recalls because of the unprecedented scale.

Toyota fears greater damage from latest recall

Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki speaks during a press conference on a US recall for 2.3 million vehicles that need a part for gas pedals fixed at Toyota office in Nagoya, central Japan, Tuesday, February 2, 2010. [Agencies]

Toyota Motor Corp Executive Vice-President Shinichi Sasaki, who oversees quality control at the world's No 1 automaker, acknowledged there was a perception the company was slow in responding to the gas pedal problem.

But he said Toyota had made finding a fix a priority. Although the recalls were announced Jan 21, it was not until Monday that a US executive outlined details of what had to be fixed.

Sasaki said he didn't yet how the recalls were going to hurt sales or earnings. He said, generally after a recall, sales drop about 20 percent in the first month and then gradually recover.

The damage from the latest recall may be greater, he said. "This is unprecedented in having caused this huge problem for customers."

The recalls covered 4.2 million cars worldwide and 2.3 million in the United States, including some of Toyota's best-selling models, such as the Camry and Corolla. It has recalled millions more because of floor mats that can catch the gas pedal.

Sasaki said there were no electronic problems in the vehicles being recalled in US for the sticking gas pedal, and the earlier recall for floor mats was "totally unrelated" to the pedal problem.

The company had investigated for electronic problems, and had "not found a single case" pointing to that, he said.

Toyota's customary approach was working hard to find a fix for the problem, and that had resulted in owners having to wait for an explanation, Sasaki said.

"We put our customers first," he said. "But what happened as a result may have been unfortunate. But we stuck to our view to the end."

Sasaki acknowledged it took some prodding from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for Toyota to decide to make the gas-pedal recall. He said officials recommended a recall late last year.

Sasaki said Toyota knew of problems with gas pedals in 2007 with the Tundra pickup and had changed the material of the pedal part to deal with that problem.

But the new material did not hold up to friction and had caused the pedal to stick in some cases, leading to the latest recall, he said.

The problem over floor mats, which may get entangled in gas pedals, was separate, and Toyota is dealing with that by changing the mats and a different part of the pedal, he said.