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 Toyota said on Thursday it had stopped selling eight recent-model
vehicles equipped with seat heaters in North America following an
advisory about fire risk from South Korean safety officials. The
world largest automaker said it did not believe a recall was
necessary, however.
South Korea applies the same fire retardation standards as those
used in the United States, where the cars were built starting in
August 2012. Some of the U.S.-built models were exported to South
Korea.
The Japanese automaker said there have been no reports of fires or
injuries related to the problem. The safety standard requires a
certain burn rate as a flame moves across the seat heater's cloth
pad.
Toyota said the number of affected vehicles at its U.S. dealers
totaled about 36,000, or about 13 percent of dealer inventory, but
that does not include vehicles in transit to dealers or those
already sold to consumers. In the United States alone, the number of
affected vehicles could top 111,000, according to research firm
Kelley Blue Book.
From the hit it took to its quality reputation during past recalls
related to unintended acceleration, Toyota has learned that it
cannot delay action on these issues, Kelley Blue Book analysts said.
But the decision to stop selling high-volume models with seat
heaters will be costly.
"The timing of this issue, and its impact on Toyota's most popular
models, couldn't be much worse," Kelley Blue Book senior analyst
Karl Brauer said. "Given that much of the U.S. is currently in the
grips of a record cold snap, there's sure to be high demand for
models with seat heaters.
"Toyota officials appear confident there is no risk and as a result
they feel any hit to the company's reputation would be short-lived
and less costly than a full recall," he added.
From late 2009 to early 2011, Toyota recalled nearly 19 million
vehicles globally related to unintended acceleration claims. In
2010, Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized for the company's
handling of the recalls and said he would insist on customer safety
first.
Toyota was fined $17.35 million in December 2012 for being slow on a
recall, still the single highest civil penalty ever paid to the U.S.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for violations
stemming from a recall.
In July 2013, a U.S. judge approved a settlement valued at more than
$1.6 billion to resolve economic-loss claims resulting from the
alleged safety defects. The company is still trying to settle
related personal-injury lawsuits.
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Toyota spokesman John Hanson said on Thursday the company has
informed NHTSA of the fire retardation problem and would file an
official report outlining the noncompliance with the standard. He
added that Toyota did not feel a recall was necessary.
The petition that Toyota will file with NHTSA says the problem is
"inconsequential" in terms of vehicle safety, even though the cars
are no longer being sold by dealers because they do not meet U.S.
safety standards, he said.
The U.S. safety agency said it was aware of the upcoming petition
and would seek public comment once it had been filed.
"NHTSA is monitoring the risk associated with this noncompliance and
will evaluate Toyota's petition once it is received," the agency
said in an emailed statement. "As always, safety is our top priority
and NHTSA will take appropriate action as warranted."
Affected vehicles are the 2012-2014 Camry mid-sized sedan and Camry
hybrid; 2013-2014 Avalon sedan, Avalon hybrid, Sienna minivan, and
Tacoma pickup truck; and 2014 Corolla subcompact and Tundra pickup
truck equipped with seat heaters that have been sold since August
2012, when the fabric supplier was changed, Hanson and NHTSA said.
From the start of August 2012 through the end of 2013, Toyota in the
United States sold 1,396,807 of the affected models, including those
without seat heaters, according to Kelley Blue Book. Eight percent
of the 2013 and 2014 model-year vehicles were sold with seat
heaters, suggesting more than 111,000 in the United States have the
noncompliant parts, KBB said.
Toyota dealers have been told to stop selling any of the affected
vehicles until the seat heater can be replaced, Hanson said. The
automaker will address requests by individual owners to replace the
part at no cost on a case-by-case basis.
(Additional reporting by Yoko Kuboto in
Tokyo; editing by Dan Grebler; Peter Galloway and Tom Brown)
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