Issue is if "Aygo" when you want me to stop?
Toyota Motor Europe confirmed this afternoon that it would fix accelerator pedals on as many as 1.8 million vehicles in Europe.
The announcement, oddly out of sync given earlier European time zones, follows the confirmation this morning that Toyota Motor Sales in North America will add a shim to millions of vehicles that, allegedly, stops the accelerator pedal sticking problem, which covers eight of its most popular model lines.
The first shipments of parts required for the latest fix covering the ongoing, and what critics maintain is a multifaceted problem, will begin arriving in Europe next week.
The beleaguered Japanese company offered no explanation whatsoever for what the difference in parts is among its various regional suppliers and why only one is being singled out, with an attitude that increasing number of critics say results from out-sized reputation for quality, which recently has been likened to a fable called the “emperor has no clothes,”
Executives in the U.S. insisted that only one, company, CTS, made the defective pedals. executives in Europe and Asia have not participated in press conferences.
There are, however, growing reports that the accelerator striking and unintended acceleration problems also exists among Denso supplied pedal assemblies, an assertion that thus far has gone without acknowledgment or any comment in spite of TheDetroitBureau.com’s repeated requests for clarification at the affected companies and in their affected regions.
In Europe, Toyota says it – eventually — plans to contact the affected customers, without supplying any details as to how the recall will be conducted, suggesting that the company is still not on top of the rapidly unfolding controversy.
In addition, Toyota claims that is has already implemented a production solution for vehicles made in Europe, where unlike in the United States, it has never stopped the sale or the manufacture of the affected vehicles , as it did last week and this. Critics ask why a fix was well underway before the company acknowledged the problem.
Toyota says that it is “not aware” of any accidents resulting from this condition in Europe. However, unlike the U.S., which has the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracking the issue through its open Consumer Hotline, the free flow of information from actual customers who might have experienced the problem, is, arguably, much more restricted in “Balkanized” European countries, which the lack any centralized safety agency is glaringly obvious in the Toyota matter.
It can also be argued that the only reason Toyota is conducting a global recall is because of its well-publicized North American problems, where the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finally intervened, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, an assertion Toyota denies. Still, U.S. Safety Agency records are a model of transparency and public accessibility when compare to the practices of other paternalistic governments.
Toyota also claims, without any supporting documentation in our view, that there is no relation to the thousands of unintended acceleration allegations among virtually all of its vehicles, dating back years, which is the subject to a growing controversy in the United States, and the sticking accelerator pedal problem which it — reluctantly — acknowledged less than two weeks ago; first in the U.S. and now in Europe and apparently Asia.
The recall of eight Toyota models in Europe for accelerator pedal sticking was first announced on January 28, as TheDetroitBureau.com predicted ahead of time.
Potentially defective Toyota European models and production periods are as follows:
- Aygo (Feb 2005 – Aug 2009)
- iQ (Nov 2008 – Nov 2009)
- Yaris (Nov 2005 – Sep 2009)
- Auris (Oct 2006 – 5 Jan 2010)
- Corolla (Oct 2006 – Dec 2009)
- Verso (Feb 2009 – 5 Jan 2010)
- Avensis (Nov 2008 – Dec 2009)
- Rav4 (Nov 2005 – Nov 2009)
This sticking pedal condition is rare, according to Toyota, whose creditability has been diminished by previous statements claiming floor mats where the sole cause of acceleration problems.
Toyota advises customers who have concerns, to contact the Toyota Customer Service for assistance ahead of the formal recall instructions being issued.