PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe's second-largest automaker, will recall more than 90,000 cars because they may share a gas-pedal flaw that prompted Toyota Motor Corp. to recall millions of vehicles.
The action affects about 10 percent of Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 models sold throughout Europe, or fewer than 100,000 vehicles, Jean-Marc Sarret, a spokesman for the Paris-based carmaker, said in a telephone interview. The accelerator-pedal defect may cause crashes.
The vehicles were made at a plant in the Czech Republic where Toyota and Peugeot Citroen jointly manufacture small cars. The factory is managed by Toyota and produces about 330,000 cars a year, split between the 107, C1 and Toyota Aygo models, according to the venture's Web site.
"We'll have the same recall campaign as Toyota for the affected cars," Sarret said yesterday. "The faulty component isn't used in all the vehicles. It represents about 10 percent of C1s and 107s in circulation."
Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million U.S.-built vehicles on Jan. 21 because the gas pedals may stick in the depressed position, causing vehicles to speed uncontrollably. As many as 1.8 million Toyotas will be recalled in Europe, the Japanese automaker said Jan. 29, and some cars will be recalled in China.
U.S. Deaths
Sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles has been linked to 19 deaths in the past decade, Henry Waxman, chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement on the committee's Web site. Two congressional committees have scheduled hearings on Toyota's handling of the matter.
The pedal parts were supplied in the U.S. and in Europe by CTS Corp., said Juergen Stolze, a spokesman for Toyota in Germany. Toyota has said that customers will get repair details next week and that parts from Elkhart, Indiana-based CTS will be replaced or new assemblies will be installed.
Sarret said no other Peugeot or Citroen models are affected and that he wasn't aware of any injuries caused by the problem in the company's vehicles.
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