SOUTH AFRICA: Toyota to recall vehicles manufactured in South Africa

Record ID: 452679

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Toyota to recall vehicles manufactured in South Africa
  • Date: 5th February 2010
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (FEBRUARY 4, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR SHOT OF TOYOTA HEADQUARTERS IN SOUTH AFRICA TOYOTA LOGO OVERHEAD VIEW OF TOYOTA CARS IN SHOWROOM WIDE OF TOYOTA CARS WITH YARIS VEHICLE IN FOREGROUND CLOSE UP OF A TOYOTA VERSO MORE OF TOYOTA CARS IN SHOWROOM CLOSE UP OF A TOYOTA YARIS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CORPORATE PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER TOYOTA SOUTH AFRICA, LEO KOK SAYING: "In terms of business for us it's a pre-emptive measure, it's not a problem that we've seen happening and I believe people will see this - that we are being proactive. So we don't foresee a big impact on our business in South Africa." CLOSE UP OF COROLLA SALON CAR ON DISPLAY CLOSE UP OF HILUX PICK UP TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) CORPORATE PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER TOYOTA SOUTH AFRICA, LEO KOK SAYING: "The problem if you look at the actual instances where the accelerator pedal has actually gotten stuck, it's very few. But I believe it's to the credit of Toyota for being responsible and making this a global recall, but the actual instances of where this happened and the conditions that have to be there for this to happen, is so rare, that it's quite difficult to foresee every possible circumstance." TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY
  • Embargoed: 20th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Industry,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA4UNH3XYUEPWXINUYSV00QWJXN
  • Story Text: Japan's Toyota Motorcorp will extend its recall of more than eight million vehicles to include South Africa, the country's public relations manager, Leo Kok confirmed in an interview on Thursday (February 4).
    Toyota's vehicle recall, which began in North America for sticky accelerator pedals two weeks ago, has spread to most regions of the world.
    Kok also said that though there were no confirmed figures of the number of vehicles expected to be recalled in South Africa, he did not foresee massive losses for the company in the country.
    "In terms of business for us it's a pre-emptive measure, it's not a problem that we've seen happening and I believe people will see this - that we are being proactive. So we don't foresee a big impact on our business in South Africa," said Kok.
    Vehicles manufactured by Toyota in South Africa are also exported to Europe and other parts of the world.
    Toyota however, has said its biggest-ever safety recall would cost it up to two billion U.S. dollars this quarter.
    The big question for the new year is how long and how badly sales will be affected as a result of bad publicity and a scarred brand image, as well as the unknown scope of litigation and other costs. However, Kok says the company has done everything necessary to ensure the safety of its customers and not all problems are preventable.
    "The problem if you look at the actual instances where the accelerator pedal has actually gotten stuck, it's very few. But I believe it's to the credit of Toyota for being responsible and making this a global recall but the actual instances of where this happened and the conditions that have to be there for this to happen is so rare that it's quite difficult to foresee every circumstance," added Kok.
    South Africa has the largest vehicle manufacturing industry on the continent. Toyota controls about 22.3 percent of the vehicle industry market share.
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