Toyota 2010 Camry, one of eight models recalled

Toyota, it seems, has become a victim of its own success. The Japanese giant auto maker is recalling about 4.3 million cars in North America and Europe because of a faulty gas pedal. This amounts to more than half of all cars Toyota sold worldwide in 2009 (7.81 million). Preliminary reports indicate that the faulty part was made by US auto parts maker CTS Corporation's Canadian subsidiary in Mississauga, Ontario.

The dramatic recall and suspension of production of eight best-selling cars highlights the extent of the company's transformation since the year 2000. That year, Toyota recalled just over eight thousand cars in the US and routinely had the fewest recalls of the major car makers. The company's reputation for quality was exceptional, the name Toyota virtually synonymous with reliability and value. But in recent years the image has been tarnished. Last November, Toyota recalled 4.2 million vehicles for a problem caused by improperly installed floor mats interfering with the movement of the gas pedal and potentially causing uncontrolled acceleration. None of Toyota's models were ranked in the top safety picks for 2010 by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Toyota's troubles inevitably raise questions about the company's relentless drive to become the world's number one car maker, and the strains that rapid growth have put on the company's human resources and production capacity. Has the company sacrificed quality control to cost-cutting in its attempts to return to profitability? Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who took over the company in 2009, publicly wondered whether the drive to become the world's biggest car maker had been at the expense of its core values of customer satisfaction and quality.

In the pursuit of sales supremacy—just yesterday Toyota announced that it will sell 6% more cars in 2010 than in 2009 worldwide, 8.27 million vehicles—the company also sought greater efficiency and cost cutting by, for example, using the same parts in many different models. This was the case with the gas pedal now responsible for the huge recall: the same part is used in eight best-selling models, all of which must now be recalled. While this practice could be considered risky, it would not necessarily be a problem, assuming adequate quality control and testing. It becomes a major problem when the part turns out to be faulty. Now the company must redesign the gas pedal, get it approved, set up production and exchange parts for millions of cars around the world. Losses for the company as a result of the recall and unprecedented suspension of production will be enormous.

The recall affects the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

On the markets, Toyota's shares fell 4.3 percent in Japan and 5.9 percent in New York.

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