Toyota Announces Recall Campaign in Europe For Potential Accelerator Pedal Issue

The involved models and production periods are as follows:

* AYGO (Feb 2005 – Aug 2009)
* iQ (Nov 2008 – Nov 2009)
* Yaris (Nov 2005 – Sep 2009)
* Auris (Oct 2006 – 5 Jan 2010)
* Corolla (Oct 2006 – Dec 2009)
* Verso (Feb 2009 – 5 Jan 2010)
* Avensis (Nov 2008 – Dec 2009)
* RAV4 (Nov 2005 – Nov 2009)

The precise number of involved units is still under investigation, but may reach up to 1.8 million vehicles. No Lexus models and no other Toyota models are affected.

"Toyota's policy is to put its customers first, in all circumstances", said Tadashi Arashima, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe. "We understand that the current situation is creating concerns, and we deeply regret it. We would also like to reassure customers: the potential accelerator pedal issue only occurs in very rare circumstances. The announced action is a preventive measure aimed to guarantee the highest safety standards to all customers."

For subject vehicles, there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position.

This issue is caused because the accelerator pedal mechanisms concerned may become worn. This progressive wear, combined with certain operating and environmental conditions, can cause friction in the mechanism to increase and intermittently result in the accelerator pedal being harder to depress, slow to return or, in the worst case, stick in a partially open position.

Toyota has identified a remedy for this issue, and is currently pursuing a final evaluation and confirmation procedure. As soon as the countermeasure is confirmed, Toyota will communicate to all customers and other concerned parties the details of the corrective action and of the implementation procedure.

A running change in production using different parts has already been implemented model-by-model for the models on sale in Europe, as part of Toyota's continuous quality improvement policy. Therefore there is no need or intention to stop production in Europe.

Only a limited number of incidents have been reported in Europe, and Toyota Motor Europe is not aware of any accident resulting from this issue.

It is worthy to note that the Aygo shares the same base with the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 under the B-Zero Project where the 3 cars are manufactured in Czech Republic. However there's no news from Citroen or Peugeot with regards to the recall.

Credits: wilswong