The recall covers a wide range of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, including the Camry Solara.
Toyota Motor Co. will recall about 550,000 vehicles – most of them in the U.S. – due to problems that could make the Lexus and Toyota models difficult to steer.
The announcement comes as the latest setback to an automaker that had hoped to end 2011 in full turnaround mode after a lengthy safety and quality scandal followed by sharp production cutbacks due to Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami. But the latest recall instead comes as Toyota is scaling back production at factories around the world due to flooding in Thailand which has left it short of critical parts.
Production problems and consequent inventory shortages resulted in a sharp, 18.5% decline in Toyota’s earnings for the July – September quarter, the maker announced yesterday. (For more on that story, Click Here.)
The latest recall brings to 14 million the number of vehicles Toyota has recalled worldwide since it revealed the first of several callbacks for so-called unintended acceleration in October 2009. The new problem involves a wide range of products, from the Toyota Camry sedan and Sienna minivan to the Lexus RX400h hybrid – more than 80% of which were sold in the U.S.
The recall is the result of an engine problem in which the crankshaft pulley may become misaligned. At the very least that may result in unexpected noises or a warning light to appear. But if the situation worsens the belt driving the vehicle’s power steering pump may detach suddenly. That would immediately result in a loss of power making it much more difficult to steer the vehicle.
Of the 550,000 vehicles covered by the recall, 447,000 were sold in the U.S., the rest in markets around the world.
The reach of the recall reflects Toyota’s strategy of sharing basic components in a wide variety of vehicles. That improves economies of scale – lowering costs – but can lead to a more extensive recall if a problem develops.
In this case, the defect involves 283,200 Toyota-branded products, including the 2004 and 2005 Camry sedan, Solara coupe, Highlander SUV and Sienna minivan, as well as the 2004 Avalon sedan and 2006 Highlander HV.
Also affected are 137,000 Lexus products, including the 2004 and 2005 ES330 sedan and RX330 crossover, as well as the 2006 RX 400h hybrid crossover.
A number of additional models are included in the recall in other global markets, such as the Toyota Alphard.
Toyota plans to formally notify consumers of the problem in January and will begin making repairs once it has enough replacement parts in place. Owners will be asked to bring their vehicles into Toyota dealerships for an inspection. But in the event of unexpected engine noises or loss of steering, the maker says motorists should bring their vehicles in immediately.
The large recall is a setback for a company that had been contending it had overcome the quality and safety issues that had become such an embarrassment in 2009 and 2010 – resulting in a series of record fines levied by U.S. safety regulators.
And it complicates the maker’s efforts to turn things around after losing roughly 700,000 units of production in the wake of the March 11 Japan disaster. Toyota had been hoping to make up some of that lost volume by scheduling extensive overtime but the recent flooding in Thailand has instead forced the maker to order further production cuts running until at least the middle of this month.