Toyota recall to spill into SA?
2010-02-03 07:36
Toyota’s ignominious North American recall has been internationalised, with South African cars possibly involved in the expanded recall.
Last night it was announced the recall would officially be expanded to other geographies, including South Africa.
The Japanese manufacturer is reeling in the American market after damming recalls for both sticking accelerator pedals and defective floor mats.
Toyota’s sales slumped to a decade low in January as the company’s most severe ever recall forced it to retract its most popular models from the market.
Which models?
The American market recall for faulty accelerator pedals are 2009-2010 RAV4, 2010 Highlander and 2008-2010 Sequoia sport-utility vehicles; 2009-2010 Corolla and 2005-2010 Avalon sedans; some 2007-2010 Camry sedans; 2009-2010 Matrix hatchbacks; and 2007-2010 Tundra pickups.
For local buyers the potential concern is with RAV4 and Corolla models, which are the only vehicles affected by the American recall which have a presence on the local market.
Even the company’s advanced Prius hybrid has not been spared.
A spokeswoman in Tokyo has admitted Toyota is investigating issues pertaining to complaints about insufficient brake actuation performance when operated on corrugated or frozen roads. Whether the extraordinarily low-resistance tyres fitted to Prius are actually more to blame is still open to conjecture…
The political dimension
Although Toyota’s proposed solution to the recall malaise has not been challenged by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the political damage has been done. Toyota is due to appear before a Congressional inquiry scheduled to begin next Wednesday.
U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ensured the Japanese manufacturing giant will enter the inquiry with its head well and truly bowed, calling it "a little safety deaf."
LaHood was incensed he had to fly a delegation of NHTSA officials out to Japan "to remind Toyota management about its legal obligations."
"While Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point."
Toyota's amended throttle pedal module, which the NHTSA has passed into production as an unobjectionable fix.
Cars and Congress
There is one rather peculiar fact concerning LaHood’s statements.
Despite Toyota behaving abhorrently at first, after an official NHTSA visit in December, the company has seemingly made a full disclosure of issues and initiated an engineered solution in double-time - showing good faith.
Why would LaHood feel the need to raise points concerning Toyota’s initial obstinacy again? Could it be the Obama administration is tiring of automobile related issues during its first year of tenure? We'll probably find out next week...
