A rocky road for Toyota

A rocky road for Toyota

The Japanese motor company is now investigating a possible recall of the 2009-10 Corolla model because of steering problems, but dealers say that the recall will probably not extend to the UAE.

February 18, 2010 2:27 by Aarti Nagraj

Japanese motor giant Toyota could be considering a recall of its popular 2009-10 Corolla model after receiving complaints about steering problems, the company announced on Wednesday.

“Our internal studies have shown that drivers have complained about a change in steering response versus the older Corollas possibly due to a switch from a hydraulic power steering system to an electronic one,” Shinichi Sasaki, Toyota’s executive vice president told a news conference in Tokyo, adding that there would only be a recall if the issue was considered to be a safety breach.

However, the issue will probably not affect Corolla models in the UAE, a spokesperson for Al Futtaim Motors, the official distributor of Toyota in the UAE, told Kipp. “We think that it refers to the Corolla model in the US and our Corollas are not manufactured in the US. That would not affect the market here,” the spokesperson said.

According to American media reports, the US government is planning to launch a formal investigation on Thursday into complaints about the Corolla. The inspection will look into the 150 complaints submitted to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the reports said.

The problem with the Corolla is the latest in a string of problems plaguing Toyota in the last few weeks. The automaker has already recalled around 8.5 million vehicles from around the world because of quality and safety issues.

At the beginning of this month, Toyota said that it was recalling the 2005-2010 model year Avalons and the 2009-2010 Sequoia cars from the Middle East to fix faulty accelerator pedals. Earlier this week, the the Emirates Standardisation and Metrology Authority (Esma) said that it had ordered Toyota to recall 3,120 cars from the UAE as a precaution.

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Tags: automobile, car, carmaker, Corolla, global, recall, steering, Toyota, UAE

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3 Comments

al safa on February 20, 2010 5:31 am

Toyota has very good quality control system.The problems are common in new innovations.Toyota faces it in a right way.
Else Poinson on February 24, 2010 12:09 pm

Toyota executives are currently testifying before Congress about the safety issues that have led to the recall of millions of vehicles. They insist that “We are confident that no problems exist with the electronic throttle control system in our vehicles.”
OFiroz on March 4, 2010 10:29 am

Problem due to a switch from a hydraulic power steering system to an electronic one. That is one of the improvement Toyota has done for the Corolla for 2009 – 2010 models. And it is applicable for all the Corolla world wide, it is not they make some improvement for US market and some for Middle East.
Probably running lights, and garage openers are few enhancement these car makers make for US and Canada models and bigger AC compressor for Middle East. Now a days even compressors are same due to global warming. Not the deep inside parts.
Since nobody complained in UAE the Al Futtaim spokes man said the Corolla is not made in US. So what, the problem persists!