Toyota to stop selling LS due to safety concerns - will Philippines follow?

[leopaul]

I just saw something on the internet:

On Tuesday May 25, 2010 Toyota announced it will suspend sales of the 2010 Lexus LS 460 and the Lexus LS 600h in the United States for an estimated three weeks as it waits for the delivery of updated electronic control units to be used to fix a “steering defect”.

According to a recent MSNBC article, the problem occurs when the “steering wheel briefly shifts out of alignment with the wheels when it is turned to the extreme right or left and then quickly re-centered, such as in a tight U-turn. Toyota said it will remedy the problem by replacing the computer processor in the vehicle’s variable gear ratio steering system.”

The Japanese auto company stated last week that it would recall 11,500 of the Lexus LS sedans, including 3,800 in the United States due to a steering problem. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the problem with the Lexus sedans is occuring in the variable gear ratio steering system at low speeds. Toyota claims that the repair will fix a “temporary steering wheel off-center condition that may develop under a specific driving maneuver.”

As published in a recent article on Inside Line, Toyota spokesman Mike Michels offered this statement, “this is a normal procedure for any recall for which the remedy is not immediately available and happens more than you might think. Basically dealers cannot sell a vehicle that has not had the recall performed. The remedy will be available in late June, perhaps earlier. In hindsight, we should have announced the stop-sale along with the recall, but there won’t be a further news release on it.”

Safety recalls coming from Toyota have become quite frequent. This is the second stop sale order on a vehicle from Lexus since April, and the third time this year that Toyota has been forced to stop sales of vehicles affected by a safety flaw. As stated in Inside Line, “Toyota issued a stop sale order on the 2010 Lexus GX 460 in mid-April, following a Consumer Reports “don’t buy” warning because of rollover concerns.”

Toyota has been working to improve the reaction time to these safety problems after coming under government scrutiny and being fined $16.4 million by the U.S. for their slow response to the accelerator pedal recals which affected more than 8 million Toyota vehicles worldwide.

As a result of the ongoing concerns over vehicle safety that recent recalls have presented, United States Congress has launched the first major review of auto safety laws in Congress in a decade.

Source: http://www.americanconsumernews.com/...h-nyse-tm.html

Seems they will stop selling the ultra-luxury Lexus LS in the U.S. market dahil sa may diperensya sa steering.

Could Lexus Manila be possibly follow?

[tidus1203]

Dapat! Kasi the LS only comes from one source. JAPAN! The good news is, ilan lang ba LS nabebenta dito? Unlike sa US perennial best seller yan!