The chairman of CTS, a global manufacturer of recalled gas pedals by Toyota Motor Sales, told investors during an earnings conference call today that the problem was caused by environmental conditions that went beyond Toyota’s design specifications for the assemblies.
CTS Chairman Vinod Khilnani said that the company provides gas pedals for use by other makers that are “very different” pedal designs. The electrical sensor in the pedal has nothing to do with the issue.
Condensation makes the Toyota pedal “harder to depress, slower to return to the idle position, and in rare situations, Toyota believes, it may get stuck in a partially depressed position,” said Khilnani.
He said the company has no knowledge of an accident or injury caused by its pedals.
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc, a TMC subsidiary, announced last week it would recall approximately 2.3 million vehicles to correct sticking accelerator pedals on eight Toyota Division models.
Three of the CTS’s plants are already making redesigned pedals, and Khilnani added that CTS had been working with Toyota “for a while” on a revised pedal, which included testing by both companies.
“It has been agreed as the solution,” Khilnani said.
Toyota is taking the lead in a program with CTS to come up with a field fix for the millions of vehicles already on the road.
“We are going to work with Toyota very closely, and CTS will help Toyota solve the problem,” Khilnani said.
“We continue to work with CTS to test effective pedal modifications for existing vehicles on the road that will be available to our customers as quickly as possible,” a Toyota spokesperson confirmed.
CTS at Toyota’s request is also adding additional production lines to ramp up production much faster than existing capacity.
As TheDetroitBureau.com reported earlier this week, Toyota is in the process of extending the recall to other regions, including Europe and China.
Yes the recall is Toyota’s responsibility. And, the pedals sourced from Denso, that perform the identical function, are fine.
We are not able to confirm from Denso that its pedals are fine,and have been trying to do so long before your comment – if you have a source let me know through the e-mail “contact us” function on the top of our screen.
The Japanese apparently have no idea that the U.S. press does not operate under the same cozy, compromised rules that govern press relations in Japan.
Also Hella might also be a source of pedals. There will be a service action in Europe and China — Toyota is scrambling and can’t confirm models yet. And is still hedging on what happened.
— Ken Zino, editor
Latest CTS statement as of this afternoon. – Ken Zino, editor. (FYI CTS and Toyota never returned our e-mail or phone requests for comment and clarification several days ago. And we maintain that Toyota’s credibility has been compromised in this issue by its previous statements, which have been misleading, incomplete or contrary to subsequent revelations. )
CTS Comments on Accelerator Pedals 29 January 29, 2010
ELKHART, Ind.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CTS Corporation (NYSE: CTS) today expressed its “deep concern that there is widespread confusion and incorrect information” about the role of CTS-manufactured gas pedals in the media coverage of the recent Toyota recall.
CTS stated that since the problem of sudden unintended acceleration has been reported to have existed in some Lexus vehicles and Toyota vehicles going back to 1999 when CTS did not even make this product for any customer, CTS believes that the rare slow return pedal phenomenon, which may occur in extreme environmental conditions, should absolutely not be linked with any sudden unintended acceleration incidents. CTS is also not aware of any accidents and injuries caused by the rare slow return pedal condition, to the best of its knowledge. CTS wishes to clarify that it does not, and has never made, any accelerator pedals for Lexus vehicles and that CTS also has no accelerator pedals in Toyota vehicles prior to model year 2005.
“We are disappointed that, despite these facts, CTS accelerator pedals have been frequently associated with the sudden unintended acceleration problems and incidents in various media reports,” said Dennis Thornton, CTS Vice President and General Manager of Automotive Products Group. Toyota itself has also publicly stated that this recall is separate from the earlier recalls which were done to remedy sudden acceleration in vehicles.
CTS and Toyota continue to work closely in our partnership to resolve the slow return phenomenon.