 |
Toyota faces US, Japan Probe on Prius braking problem
In Washington, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood startled the public with a comment, which he later retracted, that Americans should park their recalled Toyotas unless driving to dealers for accelerator repairs.
The problems with the Prius hybrid are another blow to Toyota in the US -- its biggest market -- and an embarrassment in the automaker’s loyal home turf of Japan, where the transport minister said a recall should be considered.
The popular gas-electric hybrid was not part of the most recent recall over sticking gas pedals in eight top-selling models, numbering about 4.5 million vehicles around the world. A major Toyota dealership in Tokyo said the automaker had informed dealers that Prius brakes can sometimes fail to work for less than a second but it had not told owners.
Toyota has already done fixes for Prius cars sold since late January but has yet to give instructions to people who bought them earlier, said Hiroyuki Naito, a manager at the dealership. The latest model Prius hit showrooms last May. “It is disappointing because the Prius was receiving such rave reviews,” he said. Details were not immediately available on what Toyota had in the works for Prius cars sold in the US and Europe.
The automaker Thursday said it returned to profit in the October-December quarter, citing sales of the Prius and other “green vehicles” for the rebound from the global auto slump. It made $1.7 billion net profit in the quarter and now expects a profit for the fiscal year ending March. Previously it forecast a loss.
Japan’s transport ministry has ordered the company to investigate complaints of brake problems with the hybrid. LaHood has said the US transportation department was also looking into brake problems. “We are asking Toyota to look into the matter, including possibly making a recall on the Prius,” Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said.
Company officials had repeatedly said cars in Japan weren’t covered by its overseas recalls because they used Japanese supplier Denso, hinting the world’s biggest automaker was doing a better job maintaining quality control in Japan.
All the Prius cars being reported with possible braking problems were manufactured in Japan.
“The latest Prius troubles have really damaged Toyota’s brand. Uncertainty over the Prius troubles will only prompt more consumers to dump Toyota,” said Roichi Saito, auto analyst with Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo.
Prius owners were also worried. Akira Suzuki, 25, who makes surf boards and teaches surfing, was excited about the high mileage his recently purchased Prius offers -- but worried about its possible problems. “I’m not sure how safe it is. I plan to drive very carefully,” said Suzuki, who lives in a Tokyo suburb.
Toyota said Thursday it was aware of 77 complaints in Japan about braking problems for the Prius -- just a day after the Japanese government had confirmed 14 complaints. About 100 complaints over Prius brakes have been filed in the US.
At least one accident has been reported in Japan suspected of being linked to faulty braking. In that accident, in July 2009, a Prius crashed head on into another car, slightly injuring two people, according to the Japanese transport ministry.
At a congressional hearing, LaHood said his advice to an owner of a recalled Toyota would be to “stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it.” His comments prompted new questions and rattled Toyota stockholders, causing shares to plunge 6 percent overnight on Wall Street.
Late last year, Toyota recalled about 5 million vehicles over problems with floor mats trapping gas pedals and on Jan. 21, recalled some 2.3 million vehicles in the US amid concerns that gas pedals could become stuck or be slow to return to the idle position.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
| ABDULLAH BOZKURT |  |
||
| Turkey and Mexico: Distant yet so close | |||
| BERİL DEDEOĞLU |  |
||
| Yemen and beyond | |||
| ARZU KAYA URANLI |  |
||
| On Memorial Day a few words to make your day memorable | |||
| ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ |  |
||
| Google kidnaps Gül! | |||
| CUMALİ ÖNAL |  |
||
| Critical months for Egypt | |||
| DOĞU ERGİL |  |
||
| Qualities of power | |||
| İHSAN YILMAZ |  |
||
| The Egyptian elections, Islam and Islamists | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Operational errors | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| There is need for a new initiative | |||
| JOOST LAGENDIJK |  |
||
| Europe can’t have it all. Or can it? | |||
| HASAN KANBOLAT |  |
||
| Are Russian tourists being discouraged from visiting Turkey? | |||
| MELİH ARAT |  |
||
| Handmade | |||
| KLAUS JURGENS |  |
||
| Back to the ’80s | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
