Скачать или смотреть Toyota starts recall of 92,000 Lexus over engine defect

(5 Jul 2010)
No Slate at Start of Story
File - Recent
1. Various of Lexus show room
2. Various older version of the Lexus model which became the subject of the recall this time
5 July 2010
3. Mid of Automotive News, Asia Editor, Hans Greimel
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hans Greimel, Automotive News, Asia Editor:
"Well I think Toyota's latest recall just brings another spotlight onto the quality problems at Toyota. They have done well in eventually dealing with the earlier recalls and that just started to die down. Now this comes up again and reminds everybody about the recall issues. So it's bad timing for Toyota. In any other year, or for any other company this might not have been a bad thing."
5. Cutaway of Greimel
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hans Greimel, Automotive News, Asia Editor:
"Well this of course is not good for the Lexus image. That's the kind of flagship, high quality luxury line for Toyota so it wants to keep the quality unscathed at Lexus, with something as simple as the piston rings being suspect or having those being subject to a recall, and to question just how good are these engines, that are in the top-line cars."
10 May 2010
7. Various exteriors of Toyota Headquarters
8. Street sign for the Toyota Headquarters
STORYLINE:
Toyota started recalling more than 90-thousand luxury Lexus and Crown vehicles on Monday in Japan, over defective engines, the latest setback for the automaker beset with quality problems.
Toyota Motor Corporation said recalls in overseas markets will follow soon, totalling about 270-thousand vehicles globally. That includes: 138-thousand vehicles in the U.S., 15-thousand in Europe, 10-thousand in the Middle East, 6-thousand in China, 4-thousand in Canada, and 8-thousand in other regions.
Toyota told the Japanese government on Monday it was recalling 91,903 vehicles for flaws in the valve springs, a crucial engine component, that could make the automobile stall while in motion.
The quality problem affecting top-of-the-line products came as Toyota struggles to move on from massive global recalls that started in October 2009. It already recalled more than 8.5 (m) million vehicles for various problems, including sticking gas pedals, braking software glitches and defective floor mats.
The world's top automaker was fined a record 16.4 (m) million US Dollars in the United States for responding too slowly when the recall crisis erupted.
Hans Greimel, the Asia Editor of Automotive News, said on Monday that this recent recall further highlighted the problems the car manufacturer has been experiencing.
" They have done well in eventually dealing with the earlier recalls and that just started to die down. Now this comes up again and reminds everybody about the recall issues. So it's bad timing for Toyota," he said.
The company announced the latest quality problems last week, estimated to affect about 270-thousand vehicles around the world.
Some 180-thousand of the defective automobiles were sold overseas, 138-thousands of them in the United States.
No accidents or injuries have been reported because of the defect. About 220 complaints have been reported.
Toyota said it was replacing the valve spring in the recalled vehicles, produced between July 2005 and August 2008, Lexus models GS350, GS450h, GS460, IS350, LS460, LS600h, LS600hL and Crown models.
Toyota also faces more than 200 lawsuits in the U.S. tied to accidents involving defective automobiles, the lower resale value of Toyota vehicles, and a drop in its stock value.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...