Toyota on defensive over runaway cars

• Source: Global Times
• [00:52 March 10 2010]
• Comments

Toyota is seeking to dispel fears about the safety of its electronics, but was put on the defen-sive when a Prius went speeding out of control Monday along a California highway.

The Japanese carmaker insisted that mechanical fixes it is applying to more than 8 million vehicles recalled worldwide are sufficient and that its tests are rigorous.

It empaneled engineers from Stanford University and a top consulting firm Monday to dismiss as "unrealistic" and contrived a study showing crossed wires could send a false signal that would cause Toyota cars to speed out of control.

David Gilbert, a professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University, told a US congressional investigation last month that some Toyota and Lexus vehicles may have an electronics design flaw.

"If an electrical system is re-engineered and rewired it's not surprising that subsequent testing of the system may cause unrealistic results," Toyota spokesman Mike Michaels told reporters, dismissing the flaw-creative findings.

US regulators said last week that they had received more than 60 complaints from Toyota owners reporting sudden unintended acceleration despite having their recalled vehicles repaired by a Toyota dealer.

Toyota is in the process of investigating those complaints and has found that some of the incidents were a result of incomplete repairs, said Michaels.

Yet just hours after Toyota's trenchant criticism, the company was grappling with another public relations nightmare after a runaway Prius drama in California.

James Sikes, 61, was driving on the busy Interstate 8 freeway outside San Diego when he noticed his car was accelerating of its own accord at speeds of more than 145 kilometers per hour.

Among the raft of cases the carmaker is facing, a New York Democrat asked Toyota to turn over a letter Toyota employees sent to management in 2006 detailing safety concerns.

Agencies