Toyota freezes some US sales

Toyota had suspended the sale of eight of its models built and sold in US, due to a sticking accelerator pedal fault. However, Toyota India has said that its Indian operations will not be affected by the company’s move.

“There will be no impact on Indian market as we source cars from Japan and not from the US,” said Sandeep Singh, Deputy MD, Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motors.

The list of affected models also include Camry and the Corolla, but India gets its Camry imported from the Japan, while the Corolla is manufactured at its Bangalore plant. 

On January 27, 2010, Toyota freezed sale of eight of its models in the US and a day later the recall have been extended to Europe as well. Earlier this month, Toyota was forced to recall around 2.3million vehicles to correct the problem. Accelerator pedal mechanisms in certain Toyota models have stuck in a depressed position or returned slowly to idle.

Sales of the Rav4, Matrix, Corolla, Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Tundra and Sequoia have all been postponed and Toyota has also said it will shut down production lines on five of its North American production lines for one week from Monday to inspect conditions.

Toyota vice president Bob Carter said: “Helping ensure the safety of our customers and restoring confidence in Toyota are very important to our company.

No hybrid, Lexus or Scion models have been affected by the problem or recall.