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It started with a single, horrifying car crash in southern California last August
recalls covering 7.5 million vehicles
Toyota was forced to announce it was suspending the sale of eight of its best-selling
vehicles
cost the company and its dealers a minimum of $54 million a day in lost sales revenue
How did a company that became the world's largest and most profitable automaker on the
back of a rock-solid reputation for quality and dependability find itself at the center of the
biggest product recall since the Firestone tire fiasco in 2000?
Brand image?
First Crash- August 28, 2009: Off-duty California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor is
traveling in Santee, California with three family members, when the 2009 Lexus ES350
he is driving suddenly accelerates out of control, hits another car, tumbles down an
embankment and catches on fire. While the car is careening down the highway at speeds
estimated to exceed 100 mph, one of the occupants calls 911 and reports that the car has
"no brakes." Sadly, All four occupants were killed in the crash. Toyota and local
authorities indicate that the Lexus may have had the wrong floor mats installed,
interfering with the gas pedal
September 29, 2009: Toyota announces it is recalling the floor mats on 4.2 million
Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
October 18, 2009: The Los Angeles Times article reveals there have been nine separate
NHTSA investigations into claims of unintended acceleration by Toyota vehicles
October 25 , 2009: The results of an investigation by local authorities and the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveal a set of rubber floor mats
designed for the Lexus RX 400 SUV had been placed over the top of the ES 350's stock
carpeted floor mats and that the accelerator pedal had become jammed against them,
causing the car to accelerate out of control.
Toyota had ignored over 1,200 complaints of unintended acceleration over the past eight
year
A new Los Angeles Times story claims a number of Toyota drivers say their vehicles had
still accelerated out of control with the floor mats removed. The Times also reports
complaints of unintended acceleration increased after Toyota began using its drive-bywire system in 2002, starting with the ES 300
December 26, 2009: A Toyota Avalon crashes into a lake in Texas after accelerating out
of control. All four occupants die. Floor mats are ruled out as a cause because they are
found in the trunk of the car.
January 21, 2010: Toyota recalls another 2.3 million Toyota-brand vehicles because of a
problem with the gas pedal. Toyota declares that under rare circumstances, the gas petal
will become harder to depress (spring back). No Scion or Lexus models were included in
this recall. However, Toyota did not announce any kind of repair for the problem.
January 23, 2010: AFP reports Toyota may recall 2 million vehicles in Europe for the
same problem.

January 26, 2010: Toyota announces it is immediately halting the sale of all models
affected by the January 21 pedal recall, and that it will shut down assembly lines for
those models at five North American plants for one week.
January 27, 2010: U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tells Chicago radio station
WGN the government asked Toyota to stop selling the recalled vehicles. Toyota confirms
LaHood's statement.
A GM recall on the Pontiac Vibe, which is a rebodied Toyota Matrix, identifies
condensation in the pedal's electronic sensor as the culprit (pedals made by supplier CTS
Corporation of Elkhart)
Automotive News estimates that Toyota dealers could lose as much as $1.5 million in
profit every week of the sales freeze. Toyota shares have dropped more than 10% over
the past day and a half since the freeze was announced and CTS' shares dropped 2.4%.
The first recall, directing owners to remove the floor mats from their vehicles and place
them in the trunk.

09 Toyota Prius

The second recall covers 2.3 million vehicles.