Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Toyota subpoenaed again, for steering defects
From The Hindu
Toyota Motor Corporation, the Japanese car manufacturer, has been issued a subpoena by a federal Grand Jury in New York, bringing the company back into the spotlight for possible steering defects and its handling of a 2005 recall.
Media reports quoted the filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, in which Toyota was reported to have said that the subpoena was received by its subsidiaries in the United States on June 29, and “had demanded documents about steering relay rod defects in the company’s cars.”
The automobiles giant has already been served with two subpoenas during 2010, with one related to sudden acceleration and braking, and another from the Michigan attorney general in March for information on recalls, reports said.
In a response sent to The Hindu Toyota said, “On June 29... a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York issued a subpoena requesting certain subsidiaries of Toyota Motor Corporation (“TMC”) to produce certain documents related to defective, broken and/or fractured steering relay rods of Toyota-produced vehicles. TMC and its subsidiaries intend to cooperate with the investigation, and are currently preparing their response thereto.”
In the response the company further said, “Toyota intends to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney’s office with regard to the subpoena and its requests... The issuance of a subpoena is only an indication that the DOJ has initiated an investigation. It does not mean that the government has concluded that Toyota has violated the law.”
In March Toyota came under scrutiny after incidents involving possible system malfunction, where the accelerator of a Prius hybrid hatchback jammed on an interstate highway in California causing it to race out of control at 94 miles an hour.
While the 2008 Prius model was covered by a November 2009 voluntary recall by Toyota, to address the risk that out-of-position floor mats could jam accelerator pedals, there were other incidents of unintended acceleration at the time, such as one involving a 2005 Toyota Prius in a New York City suburb.
Toyota’s legal woes mounted rapidly from that point as car owners claimed that the safety recalls caused the value of their vehicles to plummet and filed numerous class-action lawsuits, amounting to $3 billion or more, across the United States.
In April Toyota was ordered to pay a $16.4 million fine for delaying a January recall over accelerator pedals that did not spring back as designed, reports said. To date Toyota has recalled close to 8.5 million vehicles, of which over 6 million were in the U.S. Toyota President Akio Toyoda in February repeatedly apologised during an appearance before the U.S. Congress, saying that great strides were being taken by his company to put "safety first".
A probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May this year had also questioned whether Toyota notified the agency of a steering rod defect within five business days, as required by U.S. law.
Labels: Japanese car manufacturer, steering defects, Toyota
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Toyota hurtling towards lawsuits
From The Hindu
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has come under increasing scrutiny after the latest incident involving possible system malfunction, where the accelerator of a Prius hybrid hatchback jammed on an interstate highway in California causing it to race out of control at 150 kmph .
In a 911 emergency call made by driver Jim Sikes on Monday, he could be heard saying “My car won't slow down… My accelerator is stuck… I tried pulling it back… but it's stuck.” The operator could then be heard telling Sikes to check his floor mats were not in the way, to try shifting the gear into neutral and to press the brakes for five seconds.
When all the measures failed, Mr. Sikes could be heard panicking, saying, “I can't hold the… phone, forget the [expletive] phone.”, then adding “The brakes are smelling”. Finally after careening dangerously close to several large trucks, Mr. Sikes managed to slow to a halt using the car's brakes and emergency brake, with the assistance of a Highway Patrol officer.
The 2008 Prius model, such as the one owned by Mr. Sikes, is covered by the November 2009 voluntary recall by Toyota to address the risk that out-of-position floor mats could jam accelerator pedals. However, on Tuesday Toyota said “no new recall was being planned” for the problem of “floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals”.
Offering clarification on the recalls, a Toyota press release said the remedy process for these vehicles began at the end of 2009 and was occurring on a rolling schedule during 2010. “Owners of the involved vehicles that have not yet been remedied are asked to take out any removable driver's side floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat,” the release added.
On Wednesday yet another incident involving a 2005 Toyota Prius was reported in the New York city suburb of Harrison. According to reports, air bags deployed when the car accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall, toppling boulders. The driver, a 56-year-old woman, escaped serious injury, said the Harrison police.
Recent weeks have seen Toyota's legal woes mounting rapidly as car owners claiming that the safety recalls caused the value of their vehicles to plummet have filed numerous class-action lawsuits across the United States.
By some estimates these lawsuits could amount to $3 billion or more, not including settlements for individual cases of wrongful death or gross negligence, which are estimated to run into tens of millions of dollars.
According to reports a key decision is expected on March 25 when federal judges will “consider whether to consolidate the mushrooming cases into a single jurisdiction”.
To date Toyota has recalled close to 8.5 million vehicles, of which over 6 million were in the U.S. Toyota President Akio Toyoda last month repeatedly apologised during his appearance before the Congress, saying great strides were being taken by his company to put “safety first”.
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has come under increasing scrutiny after the latest incident involving possible system malfunction, where the accelerator of a Prius hybrid hatchback jammed on an interstate highway in California causing it to race out of control at 150 kmph .
In a 911 emergency call made by driver Jim Sikes on Monday, he could be heard saying “My car won't slow down… My accelerator is stuck… I tried pulling it back… but it's stuck.” The operator could then be heard telling Sikes to check his floor mats were not in the way, to try shifting the gear into neutral and to press the brakes for five seconds.
When all the measures failed, Mr. Sikes could be heard panicking, saying, “I can't hold the… phone, forget the [expletive] phone.”, then adding “The brakes are smelling”. Finally after careening dangerously close to several large trucks, Mr. Sikes managed to slow to a halt using the car's brakes and emergency brake, with the assistance of a Highway Patrol officer.
The 2008 Prius model, such as the one owned by Mr. Sikes, is covered by the November 2009 voluntary recall by Toyota to address the risk that out-of-position floor mats could jam accelerator pedals. However, on Tuesday Toyota said “no new recall was being planned” for the problem of “floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals”.
Offering clarification on the recalls, a Toyota press release said the remedy process for these vehicles began at the end of 2009 and was occurring on a rolling schedule during 2010. “Owners of the involved vehicles that have not yet been remedied are asked to take out any removable driver's side floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat,” the release added.
On Wednesday yet another incident involving a 2005 Toyota Prius was reported in the New York city suburb of Harrison. According to reports, air bags deployed when the car accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall, toppling boulders. The driver, a 56-year-old woman, escaped serious injury, said the Harrison police.
Recent weeks have seen Toyota's legal woes mounting rapidly as car owners claiming that the safety recalls caused the value of their vehicles to plummet have filed numerous class-action lawsuits across the United States.
By some estimates these lawsuits could amount to $3 billion or more, not including settlements for individual cases of wrongful death or gross negligence, which are estimated to run into tens of millions of dollars.
According to reports a key decision is expected on March 25 when federal judges will “consider whether to consolidate the mushrooming cases into a single jurisdiction”.
To date Toyota has recalled close to 8.5 million vehicles, of which over 6 million were in the U.S. Toyota President Akio Toyoda last month repeatedly apologised during his appearance before the Congress, saying great strides were being taken by his company to put “safety first”.
Labels: California, hybrids, lawsuits, Prius hybrid hatchback, Toyota
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