DETROIT — Toyota Motor on Monday said it would begin fixing accelerator pedals in millions of recalled vehicles this week, with some dealerships staying open around the clock to speed the process.þþThe company said its engineers have developed and “rigorously tested” a remedy that involves reinforcing the pedal to eliminate excess friction. It said it had an “effective and simple” solution for current owners; dealers will install a steel reinforcement bar into the pedal assembly to reduce the surface tension that could cause it to stick.þþToyota said that the parts needed are already on the way to dealers and that it had begun training workers how to make the repairs.þþThe company plans to send notices by mail to owners of the vehicles affected by the recall but said the letters could take at least several weeks to reach everyone. It is urging customers to wait until they receive a letter before contacting their dealer for a repair appointment.þþ“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and reliability of the vehicles our customers drive,” James Lentz, the president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., said in a statement. “We deeply regret the concern that our recalls have caused for our customers, and we are doing everything we can — as fast as we can — to make things right. Stopping production is never an easy decision, but we are 100 percent confident it was the right decision. We know what’s causing the sticking accelerator pedals, and we know what we have to do to fix it.”þþMr. Lentz apologizes to customers twice in the course of a two-minute video that Toyota posted on its Web site. “I know that we’ve let you down,” he says. He concludes, “I hope you give us a chance to earn back your trust.”þþThe announcement came nearly a week after Toyota suspended sales and production of eight models, including the top-selling sedans in the United States, the Camry and Corolla.þþThe problem has left dealers unable to sell many of the vehicles on their lots and millions of past customers unsure whether their vehicles are safe to drive. Several rival carmakers have been offering $1,000 discounts to consumers who trade in their Toyotas.þþSales figures being released Tuesday are expected to show that Toyota’s market share in the United States fell in January to the lowest level in four years as a result of the sales suspension and recalls, according to a forecast from Edmunds.com.þþIn an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show Monday morning, Mr. Lentz said Toyota began getting reports of sticking pedals in October but he denied that the carmaker waited too long to react. He said company officials are confident that the remedy will resolve any issues with unintended acceleration and that there is no problem with the vehicles’ electronic controls.þþ“I drive Toyotas,” Mr. Lentz said. “My family members drive Toyotas. My friends and neighbors drive Toyotas. I would not have them in products that I knew were not safe.”þþSince November, Toyota has recalled more than eight million vehicles globally in two recalls for problems with their accelerator pedals. About six million of the vehicles are in the United States.þþIn 4.1 million vehicles, the company says, worn pedals can become hard to depress, slow to spring back or stuck partially depressed, while 5.4 million have a design flaw in which Toyota says the pedal can become trapped beneath the floor mat. Several models are covered by both recalls.þþThe models with the sticky pedal problem are the ones for which sales were suspended last week. Production o was to stop Monday at five factories in the United States and Canada until enough redesigned pedals were available.þþOn Sunday, Toyota began running full-page ads in more than 20 newspapers across the United States telling consumers that it had initiated merely a “temporary pause” in sales and production of the recalled models. The company said it had taken “this unprecedented action” because “it’s the right thing to do for our customers.” However, the transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, told a Chicago radio station last week that Toyota had halted production “because we asked them to.”þ
Source: NY Times
