Beijing's Toyota SUV owners seeking compensation

Shanghai, April 1 (Gasgoo.com) As Toyota Motor has agreed to compensate owners of its recalled RAV4 sport utility vehicles in Zhejiang province, owners in Beijing city and their association demand the same treatment, China Daily reported today.

Earlier this week, after two rounds of talks between representatives from Toyota and local authorities, Toyota promised to compensate Zhejiang's owners of the recalled RAV4 SUVs, step up the recalls, offer substitute vehicles and return purchase subscriptions, the first case of its kind in mainland China.

The recall of all affected vehicles will be completed by the end of April and their owners will be given compensation, the Zhejiang Administration of Industry and Commerce said on its website (www.zjaic.gov.cn), on Tuesday. The amount of compensation was not specified in the statement.

Qu Jianhui, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Consumer Association, said Toyota should respect every consumer in China and appealed to the company to treat car owners in Beijing and other cities the same as Zhejiang province. Toyota's reputation would be compromised if it can't handle the recall in a fair way.

Zhejiang province won the concessions mainly thanks to its strong regulations on consumer protection, with 'three guarantees' provided for vehicle sale starting 2000. "The 'three guarantees' refer to repairing, replacing and refunding if the product has quality problems, Qu said.

Several Toyota 4S shops in Beijing said that so far they hadn't received any notice about compensating owners of RAV4s recalled for an accelerator pedal problem and had no idea if there will be some relevant policy in the days ahead.