Page 155 - Toyota Under Fire

TOYOT A UNDER FIRE

DECEMBER 28, 2009: A New Jersey man drives his Avalon dis-
playing symptoms of a sticky accelerator pedal to a dealer,
where the car remains at an elevated idle even when in park.

JANUARY 19, 2010: At a meeting in Washington, D.C., includ-
ing TMA President Yoshi Inaba and U.S. sales chief Jim Lentz,
Toyota and NHTSA discuss “sticky” pedals. Toyota commits to
initiate a recall for the pedals.

JANUARY 21, 2010: “Sticky” pedal recall announced, affecting
2.3 million vehicles.

JANUARY 26, 2010: Sales of all models affected by the January
21 pedal recall are halted, and assembly lines for those models
at five North American plants are shut down for one week be-
ginning February 1.
JANUARY 27, 2010: The fall 2009 floor mat and pedal-size adjust-
ment recall is expanded to cover an additional 1.1 million vehi-
cles. The recall now includes the Toyota Venza and more model
years of the Toyota Highlander, as well as the Pontiac Vibe.

JANUARY 29, 2010: Toyota announces a recall of millions of ve-
hicles with CTS pedals in Europe.

FEBRUARY 1, 2010: Toyota says that it has come up with a plan
to fix the accelerator pedals and that parts are being shipped
to dealers.

FEBRUARY 2, 2010: U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
sharply criticizes Toyota’s response to the accelerator pedal
concerns, telling the Associated Press that Toyota may be “a
little safety deaf” and that “while Toyota is taking responsible

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