August 8, 2006
BY RIPLEY WATSON BLOOMBERG
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Tundra pickup might be recalled for the second time in as many years after new complaints of suspension failures prompted U.S. auto safety officials to upgrade an ongoing investigation.
The inquiry covers 219,522 Tundras from 2003 and 2004, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday. The agency is continuing a review linked to last year's recall of 775,000 Tundras and other vehicles. It also began a probe of 2004 and 2005 Sienna minivans because liftgates could fail.
The reviews are the latest in a string of quality issues for Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker. The increasing number of recalls could mar the company's brand image, Fitch Ratings said July 28, citing a worldwide recall of nearly 1 million vehicles, including some Corollas and Prius hybrids.
"This tarnishes their reputation a little bit," said Eric Merkle, an analyst for consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids. "Toyota is viewed as the pinnacle of quality. That isn't something they established in the last year or two. They did that over 30 or 40 years, and it doesn't go away overnight."
Toyota spokeswoman Ming-Jou Chen said the automaker is cooperating with NHTSA "in their investigation of both vehicles," referring to the Sienna and Tundra.
Last year's Tundra recall was for the replacement of ball joints, a suspension component that might have been scratched during assembly. After four complaints of the same problem in other model years, NHTSA opened a safety review of 2003 and 2004 models earlier this year. The safety administration said Monday it has found 142 incidents of ball-joint separations. The part fails nearly twice as often on four-wheel-drive versions, compared with two-wheel-drive models, the investigation summary said.
The 2005 recall included Sequoia and 4Runner SUVs, as well as Tacoma pickups. Eric Bolton, a NHTSA spokesman, said the ball-joint review is limited to the Tundra because the agency has gotten additional complaints only about the pickup.
NHTSA began the Sienna investigation, covering 393,313 vehicles, after eight complaints and four reports of injuries. Toyota told dealers in March 2004 it was redesigning minivans' liftgate struts from that model year to prevent damage to a seal. Six of the latest complaints were for 2004 models, and two were for the 2005 version.
Japan's transport ministry ordered Toyota to improve operations after another recall, and 367,600 Highlander SUVs were recalled last month in the United States.