Toyota to Adjust Brakes in N. America-Built Autos After Recall
January 11, 2010, 3:41 PM EST(For more on the 2010 Detroit auto show, see {SHOW <GO>}.)
By Alan Ohnsman
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. will adjust the brake system in all new models built in North America after recalling more than 4 million vehicles last year to stop cases of unintended acceleration, the automaker’s regional chief said.
The software fix broadens Toyota’s steps to shorten the gas pedals on all autos covered by the recall and alter the so- called brake override system on some models, Yoshimi Inaba told reporters today in Detroit. He said it was a precautionary move.
“We are introducing the brake override this month, and that will be expanded to all models,” Inaba said at a briefing at the North American International Auto Show. The 2009 recall covered the Camry sedan, Lexus and Prius cars, and Tacoma and Tundra trucks.
Toyota’s recall, at least the third involving more than 100,000 U.S. autos in the past two years, dented a reputation for high quality established in surveys such as those by researcher J.D. Power & Associates. U.S. sales for Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota fell 20 percent in 2009.
--Editors: Ed Dufner, Steve Walsh
To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Detroit aohnsman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Okeson at bokeson@bloomberg.net
