WASHINGTON – Toyota yesterday sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration amending its Defect Information Report from Oct. 5, 2009 regarding the potential risk for floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals in certain Toyota and Lexus models. Toyota has decided to include certain other models in the campaign. The recall now also includes:
 
·    2008-2010 Highlander
·    2009-2010 Corolla
·    2009-2010 Venza
·    2009-2010 Matrix
·    2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe
 
The total vehicle population affected by the recall has increased by approximately 1,093,000 vehicles.
 
According to early news reports today, the recall has now been extended to Europe, as well as China, where 75,552 RAV4 sport utility vehicles could be affected by the recall. Toyota is unsure at this point how many vehicles in Europe may be affected.

Toyota’s remedy plan is to modify or replace the accelerator pedals on the subjected vehicles to address the risk of floor mat entrapment, even when an older-design all-weather floor mat or other inappropriate mat is improperly attached, or is placed on top of another floor mat.  Floor surface modifications are also being considered and will be included in the remedy plan for any model for which it is deemed appropriate.
 
Initially, dealers will be instructed on how to reshape the accelerator pedal for the repair.  As replacement parts with the same shape as the modified pedal become available, they will be made available to the dealers for the repair. Customers who have had the pedal reshape remedy completed will have the opportunity to receive a new pedal if they desire, after replacement pedals become available.
 
In addition, Toyota will replace any Toyota all-weather floor mat in a subjected vehicle with a newly designed mat, free of charge. For those customers who have the previous design all-weather floor mat but do not need or want the newly designed all-weather floor mat, Toyota will recover the previous design all-weather floor mat and reimburse its price.

Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS Corp. is a new pedal supplier to Toyota, with the automaker representing approximately 3 percent of the company’s annual sales. CTS said it has been actively working with Toyota for some time to develop a new pedal to meet tougher specifications from the automaker. The newly designed pedal is now tested and parts are beginning to ship to some Toyota factories.

The company offered its comments on Toyota’s recent accelerator pedal recall:

“As previously announced by Toyota, the Jan. 21 voluntary recall results from what Toyota described as ‘a rare set of conditions which may cause the accelerator pedal to become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position.’ Toyota said this condition ‘is rare and occurs gradually over a period of time.’

“As has been publicly stated by Toyota, we have no knowledge of any accidents or injuries that have resulted from this rare potential condition. Based on information that Toyota has provided us, we are aware of fewer than a dozen instances where this condition has occurred, and in no instance did the accelerator actually become stuck in a partially depressed condition.   

“As Toyota stated, this recall is different from and unrelated to the ‘sudden, unintended acceleration issue,’ which was the subject of the November 2009 Toyota recall. In the November recall, the pedals in Toyota models dated back to model year 2002. CTS became a pedal supplier in 2005. Accordingly, our products are not implicated by the November 2009 recall. The products we supply to Toyota, including the pedals covered by the recent recall, have been manufactured to Toyota’s design specifications.”