UPDATE: Toyota Motor's Pedal Recalls Spreads Into Europe
2010年1月25日 - 9:44PM
Dow Jones News
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) will expand its massive recall of
vehicles with defective gas pedals into Europe, a person close to
the matter said Monday, further denting the auto maker's reputation
in the area of quality control.
The person said Toyota expects to recall roughly 2.0 million
vehicles in Europe as worn mechanisms in the gas pedals of certain
models make it harder to release the accelerator and could result
in the pedal becoming stuck in a partially depressed position. Last
Thursday, Toyota said it would recall 2.3 million vehicles in the
U.S. for the same reason.
Because the company is still working on finalizing the exact
number of vehicles to be recalled in Europe, it's unclear when a
formal announcement will be made, the person said, adding that the
recall volume in Europe could vary, depending on the country's
rules for repairing faulty parts.
The combined 4.3 million vehicles to be recalled in the two
regions due to the faulty pedal equals 55% of the 7.81 million cars
and trucks that the Toyota group including Daihatsu Motor Co.
(7262.TO) and Hino Motors Ltd. (7205.TO) sold globally in 2009.
The massive recall is just the latest in a number of quality
control issues that have hurt the company's image in recent
months.
In November, Toyota issued a big safety recall affecting 4.2
million vehicles in the U.S. over sudden acceleration, which the
company said was caused by improperly installed floor mats. Most of
the vehicles covered in last Thursday's recall -- 1.7 million --
were part of the earlier action.
The auto maker said last week it is looking into whether the
faulty pedals were used in vehicles sold in other markets.
While Toyota has been pushing ahead with cost-cutting steps to
return to profitability amid sluggish demand in the U.S. and other
major markets, there are growing concerns that the company's
attempts to cut corners could have a negative impact on its
reputation.
"(The quality control issues) could possibly be due to the fact
that the company is prioritizing cost-reduction ... as it aims to
return to profitability," Tatsuya Mizuno, analyst at Mizuno Credit
Advisory, said.
However, the November safety recall had little impact on
Toyota's U.S. sales in December, when its sales soared 32% from a
year earlier, driven by demand for its fuel-efficient, low-
emission cars.
But Mizuno said these big recalls could eventually weigh on
Toyota's sales in the U.S. and Europe, given their large scale.
Also on Monday, Toyota said that its domestic production jumped
18.2% in December from a year to 288,578 vehicles, marking the
second straight monthly rise in domestic output.
It also said that its global sales of 7.81 million vehicles for
2009 topped Volkswagen AG's (VLKAY) annual sales of 6.29 million
vehicles for last year.
Still, when the German car maker's volume is combined with that
of Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269.TO), in which Volkswagen took a 19.9%
stake earlier this month, their aggregated sales of 8.6 million
vehicles exceed Toyota's volume.
-By Yoshio Takahashi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2791;
yoshio.takahashi@dowjones.com
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