NAGOYA —

Toyota Motor Corp will soon offer to fix the gas pedals of vehicles in the United States that are subject to a safety recall over a problem with sudden acceleration, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday. Toyota is believed to have already agreed with U.S. authorities on the planned voluntary repair of gas pedals possibly involving some 4 million cars, the sources said.
 
In October, the Japanese automaker issued a safety recall for 3.8 million vehicles in seven models in the United States, including the Prius hybrid and Lexus cars, warning that an unsecured driver-side floor mat could slip forward and jam the accelerator pedal. The repair cost is estimated at tens of billions of yen but Toyota expects it will not affect its overall business performance as the company has set aside nearly 500 billion yen in provisions for recalls and others, a senior Toyota official said.
   
Toyota opted to offer to fix gas pedals of its vehicles rather than issuing a recall as it argues that the gas pedal’s shape is not a defect.
   
The carmaker is now in the final stage of arranging the move with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the sources said.
   
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times said more than 1,000 owners of Toyota vehicles have reported sudden vehicle acceleration since 2001 and that at least 19 people may have been killed in subsequent crashes.

© 2009 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.

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5 Comments

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  Beerplease at 07:03 PM JST - 14th November

  Apparently, Toyota could care less about its Japanese customers. Or maybe the uniqueness of J-legs don't lend themselves to inadvertent mat shifting.

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  gogogo at 08:22 PM JST - 14th November

  What about the rest of the world?

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  cactusJack at 08:34 PM JST - 14th November

  Floor Mats: Unsafe at Any Speed.

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  buggerlugs at 09:27 PM JST - 14th November

  Well I don't think I'll be buying a Toyota in japan that's now a certainty.

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  desmosedici at 10:16 PM JST - 14th November

  Well, the floor mats in my Toyota are all over the place and it never caused me a problem, but then, it's not a Lexus. Toyota should have installed these gas pedals/floor mat sets in their F1 cars. They might then have won something.

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