Toyota’s Electronics Said to Be a Focus of U.S. Recall Probe

Toyota’s Electronics Said to Be a Focus of U.S. Recall Probe

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Electronic throttle systems are under review by U.S. safety officials as a possible cause of sudden acceleration in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, as alleged in at least seven lawsuits.

The government is also considering civil penalties against Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, for its handling of recalls affecting millions of its cars and trucks, according to an official of the Transportation Department, who asked not to be identified while a review of Toyota’s actions continues.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is trying to determine if electromagnetic interference may be causing the throttle system to malfunction, said the official of the Transportation Department, which oversees NHTSA. Toyota said it has ruled out electronics as a cause. The company’s credibility would be further damaged if it is proved wrong, said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst at IHS Global Insight.

“Consumers would view that very negatively,” Lindland, based in Lexington, Massachusetts, said in a phone interview yesterday. “That group of diehard Toyota loyalists is being chipped away at as each new recall comes out.”

Toyota began shipping steel shims to dealers on Feb. 1 as a fix for sticky gas pedals that have caused the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker to recall about 2.57 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada.

“We know what the problem is,” Jim Lentz, Toyota’s president of U.S. sales, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Feb. 1. “We have the fix.”

Recalled Models

The U.S. recall for pedals that stick applies to model years 2009-2010 RAV4, 2010 Highlander and 2008-2010 Sequoia sport-utility vehicles; 2009-2010 Corolla and 2005-2010 Avalon sedans; some 2007-2010 Camry sedans; 2009-2010 Matrix hatchbacks; and 2007-2010 Tundra pickups, according to Toyota.

Toyota also has recalled and plans to fix about 5.6 million Toyota and Lexus brand cars and trucks in the U.S. and Canada because of floor mats that might trap gas pedals and cause vehicles to speed out of control. Some vehicles are affected by both types of recalls.

The safety agency as of Feb. 1 hadn’t found evidence that anything other than sticky or trapped accelerators caused the unintended acceleration, the Transportation Department official said.

Mike Michels, Toyota’s U.S. vice president for corporate communications based in Torrance, California, said in an e- mailed statement yesterday that he had “no information” on a continuing investigation by NHTSA of the automaker’s electronic throttle control system.

Civil Penalties

NHTSA can impose civil penalties of up to $16.4 million per recall, the Transportation Department official said.

The largest civil penalty NHTSA has issued that wasn’t related to emissions violations was $1 million paid by General Motors Corp. to settle charges it failed to conduct a timely recall to correct a windshield-wiper defect, the official said. The defect was in 581,344 Trailblazers, Bravadas, Envoys and Isuzu Ascenders for the 2002 and 2003 model years.

Toyota’s American depositary receipts fell $1.76, or 2.2 percent, to $78.18 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The ADRs, each representing two ordinary shares, have fallen 7.1 percent since Jan. 1.

At least 15 lawsuits seeking class action status have been filed against Toyota on the acceleration issue, and seven of them claim an electronic throttle system called ETCS-i is at fault instead of the pedals.

Electronic Signals

In cars with the ETCS-i system, the engine’s throttle is controlled by electronic signals, which are sent from a sensor that detects how far the gas pedal is depressed. The signals are transmitted to a computer module that controls how much the throttle opens.

Lawyers claiming an electronic defect contend that floor mats or stuck pedals don’t explain the sudden-acceleration incidents that triggered their lawsuits.

Edgar Heiskell, an attorney from Charleston, West Virginia, who represents the family of a Michigan woman who died when her 2005 Toyota Camry hit a tree at almost 80 miles an hour, said her car didn’t have a floor mat. She stood on the brake, attempting to stop the car after it accelerated from a speed of 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers per hour), he said.

The suit was filed in November. Heiskell also has filed a West Virginia suit against Toyota seeking class-action status.

In a Texas lawsuit filed on Jan. 29, plaintiff Alfred Pena said his 2008 Toyota Avalon unexpectedly accelerated at a stop sign on Jan. 14, causing a collision. He wasn’t injured, said Robert Hilliard, an attorney representing Pena. Pena’s wife, Sylvia, had a previous episode of unintended acceleration that didn’t result in an accident, Hilliard said.

‘Sitting Dead Still’

Sylvia Pena “was sitting dead still,” and the car accelerated as she released the brake before she touched the gas pedal, Hilliard of Corpus Christi, Texas, said in an interview.

“My belief is that fixed Toyotas with new pedals will still inadvertently accelerate,” Hilliard said.

Petition Denied

NHTSA tested throttle electronics last year in response to a petition from a 2007 Lexus ES 350 owner who had experienced sudden acceleration of his vehicle. The agency denied the petition in October after subjecting the same model of car to “multiple electrical signals” and “magnetic fields.”

Toyota said at the time that the October decision marked the fifth in which the agency had rejected similar requests to investigate company vehicles for defects including electronics related to unintended acceleration.

“In terms of electronics of the vehicle, we’ve done exhaustive testing and we’ve found no issues with the electronics,” Toyota’s Lentz said on a conference call with reporters Feb. 1.

Toyota, as required by law, stopped selling eight vehicles recalled in the U.S. last week. The company said it will begin fixing accelerator pedals, which were supplied by Elkhart, Indiana-based CTS Corp., this week, with some dealerships preparing to do repairs around the clock.

The Transportation Department and its auto safety agency have been called to testify at two congressional hearings on the handling of the Toyota recalls.

‘Enormous Effort’

“While Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday in an e- mailed statement. The department is “continuing to review possible defects.”

A House Oversight and Government Reform Committee panel will hold a hearing on the recalls on Feb. 10, followed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Feb. 25.

Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who serves on both committees scheduled to question Toyota, said in a letter to Lentz that his public statements on Feb. 1 were “different than the representations” Toyota officials made to the Energy and Commerce Committee’s staff last week.

Asked whether Toyota “could be certain that floor mat entrapment and sticking accelerator pedals fully explained” the causes of unintended acceleration, company officials said the “causes of unintended acceleration are ‘very, very hard to identify,” Stupak said in a letter today to Lentz.

Toyota executives at the meeting also said sticking pedals are “unlikely to be responsible” for reports of drivers losing control as cars accelerated past 60 miles per hour, Stupak said in the letter. He asked Lentz to “clarify” the differing accounts.

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