By Henry Williams
UJW Staff
GERMANTOWN, Md. – The year 2010 has been the Year of the Recall for the famous Toyota Company. The main problem: The accelerator.
Many customers in the United States have complained about the pedal getting stuck in the down position while driving and causing car crashes.
The recall was officially announced in January and now the question is will this recall affect future sales.
Cody Oreski, 16, of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, Md., said he has experienced problems with his Toyota, although not with the gas pedal.
“I have had a few problems with my Toyota Yaris. The biggest problem would have to be my brakes. Sometimes it feels like they have delayed reaction,” said Oreski. “For instance, one time when I was trying to bring my car to a complete stop; it started sliding and I had to press extra hard and I had to steer a little bit before bringing it to a complete stop.”
Oreski said he had to press on the brakes excessively hard to avoid hitting cars in front of him at a red light.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Toyota recall cost could top $5 billion and possibly drive up sales at other automakers such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.
North America is the largest market for Toyota. To try to save its place there, the company has turned to aggressive sales campaigns.
The new campaign consists of 0 percent interest, a five-year loan, and free maintenance for 80 percent of its line-up.
The Toyota market share in the United States had slipped to 12.7 percent by February from above 14 percent; it also dropped around 130 in basis points.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently slapped Toyota with a $16.4 million fine, the biggest ever. The reason for the fine was that Toyota failed to notify them about the sticky pedal situation.
NHTSA’s investigation on Toyota has resulted in 524 recalls involving 23.5 million vehicles.
Toyota agreed to settle the civil penalty from NHTSA.