Toyota CEO and president said that Toyota feels ashamed about the recent recalls of its vehicles now affecting nearly nine million cars.

 

Prius and Lexus Brake Recall

The most recent recall involves 437,000 Prius and Lexus 2010 hybrid models with a software glitch that affects the brakes, Toyota president Akio Toyoda acknowledged that “people think we were slow to respond.” The first recall announced Tuesday related to a software problem that controls the antilock braking system includes the 2010 model Prius and Lexus HS250h in North America. Toyota spokesperson Ririko Takeuchi said that 155,000 vehicles will be recalled in North America including 139,000 3rd generation Prius and 16,000 Lexus models. In Japan, four hybrid models will be recalled – the 2010 Prius, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, the Sai model sold in Japan and the Lexus HS250h. The latter three models were introduced in the country last year.

 

Camry Brake Recall

In its second recall in one day, Toyota announced Tuesday that it plans to recall just over 7,300 2010 Camrys for a brake defect. The problem, if not fixed, could result in leaking brake fluid, and make it more difficult for a driver to stop the car. The issue with the Camrys, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is a power steering hose that is too long and can rub up against a tube for the left rear brake. That could cause the brake tube to wear through, leading to a leak of brake fluid. Toyota says the problem was discovered during an inspection and it hasn’t seen evidence of this happening on the road. The automaker says that Camry owners will get recall notices in mid-March and that all fixes should be done by the end of March.

 

Corolla Steering Complaints Being Investigated

Also today, NHTSA said it is reviewing a number of complaints about the steering on 2009-2010 Toyota Corollas. In a statement, the government said this is standard procedure with complaints and that as of yet, no official investigation has been opened.

 

Sticking Gas Pedals and Floor Mat Problems

Toyota is still dealing with its recall of more than 7 million vehicles in the United States in recent months to address what it acknowledges are two acceleration-related issues:

1. Reports of uncontrolled acceleration in its cars, and

2. Gas pedals that can stick or fail to spring back properly.

Since 2003, the company has received reports of more than 2,000 accidents and 19 deaths tied to the acceleration problem. The recall affects the following vehicles:

• 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry,
• 2004-2009 Toyota Prius,
• 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon,
• 2005-2010 Tacoma,
• 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra,
• 2007-2010 Lexus ES 350 and
• 2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350.

 

Congressional Investigation

Toyota is not getting a free ride from Congress on its slow response to this defect. NHTSA and Congressional investigators want to know why the Japanese car company waited at least a month to inform its customers and government agencies of the braking problem, well after it had introduced a fix to the software in cars being manufactured.

Still dodging the questions, Toyota’s CEO told reporters he “did not recall the exact month and day” when the company first learned of the brake problem with the Prius, only indicating that Toyota was aware of the problem sometime “this year.” Meanwhile, at the press conference, Toyota president Akio Toyoda was asked if his company had withheld safety information from U.S. regulators. Toyoda answered in Japanese. “As a company, our intention is to sincerely give 100 percent cooperation,” said Toyoda. “We want to make our best effort to deal with this matter for our customers’ security and safety.” ABC News reported Thursday that former government regulators working for Toyota in the U.S. had met and negotiated with government safety officials prior to investigations of safety issues with Toyota, and that the ensuing investigations were very narrow in scope. A former Toyota lawyer also told ABC News that the automaker had tried to hide safety problems from consumers, which Toyota denies.