Toyota Motor Corp. plans to fix accelerator pedals on about 4 million vehicles in its biggest U.S. recall, as the automaker works to fulfill its president's vow to "make better cars."
The Japanese company also will install a brake override system on some of the vehicles after drivers reported cases of sudden acceleration, the U.S. Transportation Department said yesterday. The recall covers Toyota's top-selling Camry as well as its Lexus and Prius cars and Tacoma and Tundra trucks.
Toyota's recall, at least the third covering more than 100,000 U.S. autos in the past two years, dents a reputation for vehicle quality established in surveys such as those by researcher J.D. Power & Associates. Toyota wrested the global sales crown from General Motors Co. in 2008.
"They've wanted to be the world's biggest automaker, and that kind of expansion over the past 20 years has really come back to bite them," said Aaron Bragman, a product analyst at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Troy, Michigan. "It's no longer an isolated issue here or there."
The recalls add to the strain of slumping sales brought on by a recession. The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker's U.S. sales fell 26 percent in the first 10 months of the year.
"We have to listen to our customers and make better cars," President Akio Toyoda said in a speech to journalists in Tokyo Oct. 2. The grandson of Toyota's founder became president this year.
Tundra Recall
Toyota said Nov. 24 it was recalling 110,000 Tundra pickups for frame corrosion that can damage brake lines and dislodge spare tires. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the Transportation Department, had started investigating the flaw.
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