Toyota Motor Corp. was always confident in its electronic-throttle technology and was unable to tie the system to the unintended acceleration events in its vehicles that led to record recalls, an executive said.
“We’ve produced 40 million vehicles globally and have not duplicated any issues that would anywhere come close to replicating or suggesting that electronic throttles would lead to unintended acceleration,” Bob Carter, general manager of Toyota brand sales in the U.S., told reporters today at the Chicago Auto Show, reported Bloomberg.
NASA, the U.S. space agency, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said yesterday their probe of possible electronics defects found no cause for unintended acceleration beyond sticking accelerator pedals and floor mats that jammed the pedals. Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, had identified those causes and addressed them with recalls.
The U.S. findings “validated” Toyota’s position that electronics played no part in the incidents and will help to repair the automaker’s reputation among consumers, Carter said. Toyota’s U.S. sales fell 0.4 percent last year, while industrywide deliveries gained 11 percent, according to Autodata Corp.
“If any consumers did have some lingering concerns, to have it validated by NASA and the Department of Transportation is certainly encouraging,” he said.
Toyota last month unveiled the Prius v, a wagon that is larger than the current gasoline-electric sedan, and a concept version that’s smaller than the present model. Gas prices, which Toyota expects to average $3.50 a gallon in the U.S. this summer, may continue to rise and help the line of cars overtake the Camry and Corolla in sales, Carter said.
“As the market continues to evolve and natural resources get depleted and fuel prices go up, I see a day that eventually Prius will become the leader in the Toyota franchise,” he said. “Not short-term, but toward the end of the decade, Prius should be No. 1.”
The automaker plans to introduce a plug-in version of the Prius in the first quarter of 2012, and the model may initially sell for less than $30,000, Carter said.
Toyota’s American depositary receipts, each representing two ordinary shares, rose $1.06, or 1.2 percent, to $89.63 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. It was the highest closing price in more than a year.
