Toyota Motor Corp. said it’s preparing a global recall of about 480,000 Avalon sedans and Land Cruiser sport-utility vehicles, most sold in the U.S., to fix steering parts that may be defective.
About 400,000 U.S.-built Avalons sold worldwide have a steering-column bracket that can fail and cause the steering wheel to lock up, Toyota said today. The 2000 through 2004 Avalons affected include 373,000 in the U.S., as well as versions sold in Japan, Canada, China and Saudi Arabia.
Toyota also said it will recall 80,000 Land Cruisers for another problem involving steering shafts. That includes 39,000 of its 2003 through 2007 Lexus LX 470 SUVs in the U.S., sold elsewhere as the Land Cruiser 100, said Brian Lyons, a spokesman for the Toyota City, Japan-based company. Toyota said it’s not aware of deaths or injuries related to either flaw.
The world’s largest automaker is working to rebuild its image as a leader in vehicle quality following global recalls of more than 8 million cars and light trucks for defects linked to unintended acceleration. In the U.S., those recalls prompted congressional hearings and a record $16.4 million fine.
“Toyota now seems to be very much erring on the side of disclosing everything in terms of defects,” said Ed Kim, an analyst at researcher AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, California. “That’s good, but the more problems and recalls are in view of the public, the longer it takes for its reputation to recover.”
Toyota received seven complaints globally about steering brackets that failed, said Mieko Iwasaki, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman. In three of the cases reported in the U.S., there were unconfirmed “minor” accidents, Lyons said, without elaborating.
Toyota’s American depositary receipts, equal to two ordinary shares, rose 19 cents to $69.97 at 4:04 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have declined 17 percent this year.
