Jim Lentz, president and COO of Toyota’s US sales division has told FOX Business Network (FBN) that resolving the pedal acceleration issue will be “measured in months not weeks”.
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His remarks will fuel concerns over the potential long-term damage to Toyota sales in the US as a result of the unprecedented recall due to ‘sticky’ accelerator pedals that can, in some circumstances, result in ‘unintended acceleration’.
“I think it’s going to be measured in months not weeks. I can’t tell you exactly how much. At the end of this week, we’ll have a much better idea,” he said.
Lentz also acknowledged the safety concerns had shifted from initial floor mat worries to the accelerator pedal and said Toyota had acted ‘quite quickly’.
“Initially, we concentrated on the floor mat. In hindsight, it was more about the pedal. We didn’t really understand how customers use floor mats. We didn’t have enough clearance under our pedals.
“We actually acted quite quickly on that. From October of last year to today, we investigated it, we found a solution, and we implemented a solution….that’s 90 days; that’s pretty quick.”
Lentz also said that Toyota is taking responsibility and not blaming the supplier.
“We’re not blaming the pedal manufacturer. It’s our responsibility; we are going to take care of the customers. We’ll figure out why it happened down the road.”
He also acknowledged that concerned Toyota customers are approaching dealerships directly.
“Some customers have gone to the dealership and said ‘I am concerned about driving this car.’”
