ID :
109472
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 09:21
Auther :

Toyota fixing 1.6 million vehicles worldwide over oil leakage

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WASHINGTON, March 2 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. has been offering voluntary repairs for about 1.6 million
vehicles worldwide, including in Japan and the United States, since last fall
to prevent a possible leakage of engine oil, company officials said Tuesday.
The Japanese automaker, already plagued by massive recalls over cases of sudden
unintended acceleration and other problems, said the measure was not made
public since it was technically not a recall affecting a vehicle defect.
Toyota's admission that it had been conducting the voluntary repairs under what
is called a ''service campaign'' came after U.S. media reported Monday about a
possible leakage of engine oil due to ruptures in related parts.
The problem should not be seen as a defect as the driver would be alerted by an
oil warning light if a leakage actually occurred, the carmaker said, adding it
had notified owners of the vehicles subject to the voluntary repairs.
But Toyota's decision not to disclose the step earlier may fuel further
suspicion and anger among consumers around the world, and the manufacturer's
top executives may face criticism again from lawmakers when they appear at a
congressional committee on Tuesday.
Two of Toyota's executive vice presidents -- Shinichi Sasaki and Takeshi
Uchiyamada -- are scheduled to testify at the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science and Transportation.
The Senate committee session will be the third hearing about Toyota's global
recalls on Capitol Hill after ones separately held by two House of
Representatives committees last week.
According to Toyota, a sulfur element in the engine oil may degrade the rubber
portion of the oil supply hose and could cause oil leakage. The automaker is
replacing the hoses in the vehicles in question with ones using different
materials.
A total of 933,800 vehicles are being repaired in the United States, all of
them equipped with V6 engines. The affected models include the Camry, Avalon,
RAV4, Lexus ES and Lexus RX produced between 2005 and 2010. That figure will
expand to 1,249,000 units for a total of seven models if models to be repaired
in the future are included.
In Japan, a total of 45,000 units of the Harrier, Estima, Blade, Mark X and
Vanguard -- manufactured between 2005 and 2008 -- are being repaired.
In other regions, about 76,000 units will be repaired in Canada and about
230,000 units in China, Southeast Asia, Europe and other countries.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Europe said Monday its recall to fix brake problems of
the Prius hybrid model would affect 52,902 units in Europe.
The vehicles subject to the recall were all produced in Japan and effectively
cover all new models sold in the region.
Toyota's European unit said it had not received any reports of accidents in
Europe involving the Prius in connection with the brake problems.
The unit added that its recalls targeting eight models including the Yaris, the
automaker's best-selling model in Europe, and the Corolla were likely to total
just under 1.7 million units, compared with an initial estimate of up to 1.8
million units released in late January.
==Kyodo
2010-03-02 22:48:38


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