Toyota's pedal supplier says it has a fix, is ramping up output
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From: C. E. White on 28 Jan 2010 23:46 THE TOYOTA RECALL CRISIS Toyota's pedal supplier says it has a fix, is ramping up output Robert Sherefkin Automotive News -- January 28, 2010 - 1:19 pm ET DETROIT -- The supplier that made the pedal modules fingered in a massive recall of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles said today that it has a fix and is stepping up production at three factories to get new parts to Toyota's plants. The parts maker also is working with Toyota on a fix for cars already on the road, the supplier's CEO said. Testing by Toyota and supplier CTS Corp., of Elkhart, Ind., identified condensation-related problems as the cause of the automaker's sticky accelerators, which can cause the gas pedal to return too slowly to its original position or even, with age, to get stuck. CEO Vinod Khilnani said the new pedal that CTS is building takes care of the condensation problem. "We believe that is the reason for the slow return," he said in an earnings call today with analysts and the news media. Khilnani said Toyota and CTS are working to develop a "sleeve" to fix possible problems on Toyota vehicles on the road. CTS also is building a redesigned pedal that will go to Toyota factories for installation on new cars. CTS will ramp up production and add additional capacity at its three plants. Calls to Toyota spokesmen weren't immediately returned. In the wake of its Jan. 21 recall of 2.3 million vehicles, Toyota said it would suspend sales of the eight affected models. In addition, production of those models will be halted the week of Feb. 1. "All three sites are producing the new pedal," Khilnani said. "We always have some excess capacity, but because Toyota wants to replace [the parts] as quickly as possible, we're putting additional production lines to ramp up faster-than-normal production." He said his company's accelerator-module sensor had "nothing" to do with the problem. Said Khilnani: "It is a mechanical issue driven by the design and unique to Toyota." CTS is one of two suppliers that build pedals for models involved in Toyota's recall. Parts made by Denso Corp. for vehicles built in Japan aren't at issue. Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100128/OEM01/100129854/1128#ixzz0dyPhxp1s
From: Tegger on 29 Jan 2010 10:14 "C. E. White" <cewhite3remove(a)mindspring.com> wrote in news:C86dnZOIxpag9f_WnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com: <snip> > > CTS also is building a redesigned pedal that will go to Toyota > factories for installation on new cars. They've been shipping those for a quite while now, since well before the recall and even before this issue became publicly known. The revised pedal assemblies have a white mark on the left side of the pedal shank. This mark is what dealer techs are looking for when they inspect unsold cars. No mark, no sale until the pedal is fixed. -- Tegger
From: Mike Hunter on 29 Jan 2010 10:54
"According to a report in todays Tribune Newspapers, the suppler plans to make 30,000 a WEEK, Toyota requires 2,300,000 of them NOW. That does not include the 1,100,000 more Toyota had to add to the recall around the world on Wednesday. The article also says the Toyota dealers stand to loss $400,000 a week, amounting to 27,000 vehicle just from Tuesday through the end of January. It is estimated it will cost Toyota billions of dollars but the real expense will not be realized till they know how much it will cost to keep its dealers and customer happy. Near term, Toyota dealers stand to lose $400,000,000 or more is sales. They sited one dealer, in southern California, who says the suspended models account for 50% of his sales and 65% of his gross revenue. "If this lasts more than a few weeks and we sustain those losses, I will go under, unless less we can switch our customers to our Ford and Honda stores." To add to Toyotas problems other manufactures are adding discounts and special lease rates for Toyota owners and intenders. Marketing people say "Consumers that buy in January and February are generally people that need to buy, not those choosing to buy. They can not wait two or three months to buy a vehicle." Unless Toyota get a handle on a fix quickly it will be devastating. Toyota annual sales figures on it best sellers, Camry and Corolla, have been declining since 2004, as the average age of it base buyers moves up closer to 50 years old. Toyota is not attracting enough of younger buyers because they consider Toyotas as an old mans car, similar to the problem that developed for GM in the eighties." "Tegger" <invalid(a)invalid.inv> wrote in message news:Xns9D0F683074A8Ategger(a)208.90.168.18... > "C. E. White" <cewhite3remove(a)mindspring.com> wrote in > news:C86dnZOIxpag9f_WnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com: > > > <snip> > > >> >> CTS also is building a redesigned pedal that will go to Toyota >> factories for installation on new cars. > > > > They've been shipping those for a quite while now, since well before the > recall and even before this issue became publicly known. > > The revised pedal assemblies have a white mark on the left side of the > pedal shank. This mark is what dealer techs are looking for when they > inspect unsold cars. No mark, no sale until the pedal is fixed. > > > -- > Tegger > |