A Rough Road for Toyota

From the creator

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com Toyota became the world's largest automaker in two thousand eight. But after years of building loyalty, the Japanese company may have put its quality brand name at risk, at least temporarily. Toyota is recalling millions of cars and trucks around the world because of cases where vehicles have sped up unexpectedly. Last August, a driver in California was unable to stop. The crash killed him and three of his family members. Toyota says the problem is rare and caused by accelerator pedals becoming stuck open. On January twenty-sixth, the company suspended sales of eight of its top-selling vehicles in the United States, its largest market. Toyota dealers have been receiving parts to make repairs. General Motors and Ford both reported increased sales in January. But Toyota sales in the United States have fallen, and so has its stock price. Toyota says it expects costs and lost sales from its recent safety recalls to total two billion dollars by the end of March. Louis Lataif spent twenty-seven years in the car industry at Ford. Now he is dean of the School of Management at Boston University. He says this is Toyota's biggest recall. A recall late last year involved floor mats that Toyota said could cause the accelerator to get stuck. One of the vehicles in the floor mat recall was the Prius, the world's top selling hybrid. Now American officials are investigating the

Published 2010-03-11 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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