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28 March 2024

Toyota extends recalls to hybrids to fix brakes

Toyota extends recalls to hybrids to fix brakes. (REUTERS)

Published
By Agencies

Toyota Motor will recall 437,000 hybrid vehicles globally to fix faulty braking systems on four models, including the Prius, adding to almost eight million vehicles the company is repairing for separate defects.

The world's biggest carmaker will halt sales of SAI and Lexus HS250h sedans and Prius plug-in hybrids, said President Akio Toyoda, speaking at a Tokyo press conference.

Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda yesterday said he had heard of some cancellations of orders for hybrid models covered in the latest recall over braking, but he declined to elaborate.

Toyoda also said he did not want to "panic" over the automaker's unprecedented number of recalls over intended acceleration – totalling more than eight million vehicles globally – and that Toyota would work to fix each problem "one by one".

Toyota, grappling with its worst recall crisis, has lost about $31 billion (Dh113.86) in market value since January 21, when it began taking back millions of vehicles for defects linked to unintended acceleration.

"The Prius is synonymous with hybrids and therefore, given the scale, the recalls can erode consumers' trust in these cars," said Tatsuya Mizuno, Director of Mizuno Credit Advisory.


No cause found in 2007 model

Toyota received a report of a sticky gas pedal on a Tundra model in 2007 but was unable to pinpoint the cause, a senior Toyota US executive said.

Jim Lentz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Motor Sales US, also said in an interview with news-sharing website Digg.com that, since last week, over 100,000 customers in the United States have brought their vehicles into dealerships for repairs associated with the mass recall of Toyota cars.

Lentz said the first reports of unintended acceleration problems with Toyota models in the United States were received late last year. (AFP)

 

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