"Could a floor-mat have caused this tragic Southern California crash? That’s what investigators think, that the gas pedal got stuck under the mat, causing the car to race up to 120 miles an hour. Killed was California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Salor, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law Chris Lastrella. Lastrella made a terrifying 911 call from the out-of-control Lexus.
"Our accelerator is stuck. We’re in trouble, we can’t – there’s no brakes. We’re approaching the intersection. Hold on. Pray." (ABC News)
"We have a consumer alert to tell you about this evening involving 3.8 million Toyota vehicles. The company says a removable floor-mat could interfere with the car'saccelerator and cause a crash. Owners are asked now to take out the floor-mats of the drivers side and not replace them. This will be the largest U.S. vehicle recall in Toyota history." (WXAN – NBC, Austin)
Toyota is issuing a massive safety recall for millions of Toyotas and Lexus in the United States. What will it mean for the auto-giant? We’re looking at perspectives from ABC News, WXAN, the NBC affiliate in Austin, CNBC, Business Week, Bloomberg News and The Car Guru’s Blog.
Chris Richter, a senior analyst with the CLSA, tells Bloomberg News that this recall was the last thing Toyota needed as their 2009 sales, much like the out of control Lexus, are crashing.
"Chris, your take on the recall. How big of an impact do you expect it to have?"
"Probably financially, not that big of one, but reputationally, it comes at a bad time for Toyota. I mean, this issue of the floor-mats has been floating around for awhile, but today we learned the size of it, 3.8 million units, so that affects a lot of Toyota car owners, and it’s very poorly timed."
CNBC’s Phil LeBrau looks at the immediate impact of this recall and says stock in Toyota is already starting to take a hit.
"This is one of those recalls that’s going to have a lot of people talking around the country and yes there are some implications for Toyota as far as an investment goes. You’re looking at the bid asked for Toyota this morning. You’ll see that it’s indicating lower, largely out of concern that is out there that perhaps Toyota’s reputation, when it comes for safety and quality , that it's starting to slip a little bit."
David Kiley of Business Week looks at the issue from the opposite side, headlining...
“Toyota ‘Recall’ Will End Up Being A Positive For Brand” and says, “The last thing the company needed to do in this sales-challenged economy was deny any responsibility. And easy for them, all they have to do is tell the owners to take the factory-issued mats out of the vehicles.”
The blog Car Gurus presents a similar perspective, pointing out we are just talking about floor-mats.
"As far as serious issues go, this one’s about as minor as it gets. The fix? Take out the driver’s side floormat. I’m guessing there won’t be a flood of appointments at Toyota service departments on this one."
Are you less likely to buy a Toyota after this recall? We want to hear from you.
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