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 Last Updated: January 27. 2010 1:50PM
U.S.: Toyota was legally required to stop selling models David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau Washington -- Federal auto safety regulators said today that Toyota Motor Corp. was legally required to stop selling the eight models it recalled last week. Toyota took the extraordinary step of halting the sale of the vehicles late Tuesday over issues of "sticky acceleration pedals" because it hasn't yet found a fix. Those eight models accounted for nearly 60 percent of its U.S. sales last year. Toyota has been looking at the issue of sticky pedals since 2007. The new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, David Strickland, said today Toyota's decision to halt sales "was an aggressive one and was the legally and morally correct thing to do." Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Chicago radio station WGN that the government asked Toyota to stop selling the vehicles. LaHood said, "The reason Toyota decided to do the recall and to stop manufacturing was because we asked them to." A Toyota spokesman, Mike Michels, said Tuesday that the stop sale decision was obligatory although the recall was voluntary.
Strickland wouldn't directly address why Toyota didn't stop selling the vehicles five days earlier when it announced the recall. "At this point, you need to talk to Toyota about those decisions," he said. "We'll be continuing to work with Toyota and having conversations." Strickland said in taking the action "Toyota was complying with the law." "They consulted with the agency. We informed them of the obligations, and they complied," he said. Last Thursday, Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles after two recent incidents in New Jersey and Texas were under investigation by NHTSA, making the decision to recall the vehicles without figuring out how to fix the problem. But Toyota had a legal requirement to stop selling the models. It isn't clear why Toyota continued to sell the models for another five days. Toyota faces further questions because similar pedals that are at issue in the United States are on some vehicles in Europe. Toyota hasn't decided what it will do in Europe. Beginning in December 2008, Toyota received complaints in Europe about the sticky accelerator pedals on its Aygo and Yaris vehicles. The vehicles that Toyota told its dealers to stop selling in North America are: • 2009-10 RAV4 • 2009-10 Corolla • 2009-10 Matrix • 2005-10 Avalon • Certain 2007-10 Camry • 2010 Highlander • 2007-10 Tundra • 2008-10 Sequoia Toyota had been aware of issues with the pedals for more than two years but in June 2008 declared reports of sticky pedals were a "drivability," rather than a safety, issue. As part of the halt in sales, Toyota will halt production at five North American assembly plants, and reduce production at an engine plant in Alabama. The key issue is that in this recall, Toyota hadn't found a fix. In November, Toyota recalled 4.26 million vehicles over sudden acceleration issues, saying it would replace accelerator pedals and initially shorten pedals in current models. But Toyota was allowed to continue selling vehicles for weeks even though it didn't begin the recall campaign until this month. Strickland, a former Senate aide, was sworn in on Jan. 4 and was making his first public speech this morning since taking over. For nearly a year, NHTSA was without a permanent administrator. Strickland said he has been having meetings with automakers and said he wanted to work together. "We will be accountable to the American public for whom we serve," Strickland said at the SAE government meetings in Washington. "NHTSA cannot regulate in a vacuum." He also disclosed that he drives "a very babied 2005 Toyota Prius." He noted that 37,000 people were killed in traffic crashes last year. "37,000 people is way too much," Strickland said. "We have to keep working."
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