Toyota Motor Europe (TME) declined to comment on US reports that driver error was largely responsible for its ‘sticky pedal’ issues there but said final results of investigations would be available within months.
The automaker was responding to US reports that investigators had found drivers were to blame in the majority of almost 2,000 cases of ‘unintended acceleration’.
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“We prefer not to make any comment before we see [the] final results,” a TME spokesman in Brussels told just-auto. “We would hope it [results] will be [available] this year – they are speaking in terms of months.”
Speculation in the US has centred on whether the pedal problem was in fact due to most drivers mistakenly pressing the accelerator instead of the brake, although TME is tight-lipped on the possibility.
“There have been a few issues that have been established such as these sticky pedals and ABS control software that had to be put right although we are not convinced this is an issue,” said the TME spokesman.
“Beyond that we do not see any problem with these vehicles.” The TME spokesman added that “independent third parties” were continuing their evaluation in the US.
