A huge recall was released by Toyota Motor Corp. on some Toyota models in relation to recently found defective gas pedals that have been blamed on a number of accidents.
The massive recall Toyota announced came on Tuesday 26th of January as some 8 various sold Toyota models numbering above 2 million have been revealed to have gas pedals that could likely get jammed and bring about out of control acceleration.
The Toyota models under recall are:
Avalon (2005-2010)
Camry (2007-2010)
Corolla (2009-2010)
Highlander (2010)
Matrix (2009-2010)
RAV4 (2009-2010)
Sequoia (2008-2010)
Tundra (2007-2010)
The same gas pedal problem was not found on some Camry models like the Camry Hybrid. Unlisted Toyota models such as the Yaris, Land Cruiser, Tacoma, Prius, etc. are considered safe and will continue to be on sale.
The listed Toyota models have also just been put off in their production from six assembly plants within North America.
Toyota’s reputation as a reliable car manufacturer has been tarnished and this would also likely strain their profits for this year’s first quarter, if not the entire year. General Motors used to be the number 1 car manufacturer in the world but that all changed from the time when Toyota overtook worldwide sales, making them number one. After this incident, however, the future of Toyota seems bleak and it needs to redeem itself if it wants to regain consumer trust again.
The possibility of a similar recall happening to the European market could also come about since some parts of the gas pedals that are used in North America are also used on some Toyota models in Europe. It is said that only one supplier from the United States was the only source of the defective part.
A prior incident in Japan back in 2006 concerning Toyota is also being associated to the recent recall. The incident involved the Japanese government conducting a criminal investigation on Toyota because of several accidents that took place and were traced to manufacturing problems. Toyota staffs did not get charged but this incident has come back to haunt the company in some ways.
Shares of Toyota in the Tokyo stock market were said to have fallen 4.3 per cent right after the recall.
In a previous statement, Toyota declared a forecast sale of 2.19 million cars in the US and Canada and above 8 million car sales worldwide for this year. Then again, due to this recent embarrassment, many are skeptical that Toyota would meet that objective.
Toyota’s current setback related to its manufacturing is also being blamed on the growth plan which was organized by its previous president Katsuaki Watanabe. One specific part of the strategy involved increased and speedy production which is said to have played a role poor quality control. After 4 years as thepresident of Toyota Watanabe was replaced by Akio Toyoda who is the grandson of the founder of Toyota.
There have already been reports from various safety firms that over 2,000 incidents of sudden acceleration concerning cars made by Toyota and at least six casualties were also reported.
Other than the recall, Toyota is still the foremost manufacturer and seller of green technology in cars, namely the Prius.
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