Toyota's late recall raises questions about its credibility
Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co. announced that it would recall 5,202 imported Lexus cars in China to fix a malfunctioning gas-pedal, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said on February 25.
Toyota's announcement of the recall plans in China came one day after the AQSIQ, China's quality watchdog, demanded an explanation from the Japanese carmaker regarding problems with the Lexus.
However, the belated recall raises concerns among Chinese consumers about the auto giant's credibility as its previous global recall plans tagged "ignore" to China.
Due to concerns over possible fuel leaks, Toyota Motors said on Jan. 26 that it would recall 1.7 million vehicles worldwide, including 1.28 million vehicles in Japan and 421,000 vehicles in the U.S., Britain, Germany and other markets. However, the recall did not involve China.
In response to inquiries from Chinese consumers, the company claimed that cars sold on the Chinese mainland did not use the same defective engines or accessories.
"As a Toyota car owner, I doubt the company's credibility. How can cars of the same type not have the same problem? How can Toyota treat Chinese consumers differently? It's disappointing that it failed to make an explanation," said a man surnamed Ye, who works in Shanghai.
Some even suspect that Toyota might cheat consumers during the previous global recalls from 2009 to 2010. During the period, Toyota recalled nearly 16 million defective cars, but only 800,000, or less than 0.5 percent, were from China.
Chinese consumers are sensitive to recall events. Recalls of any auto brand would worry the Chinese auto market because the industry lacks a strong supervision mechanism and car manufacturers have poor credibility; Kazinform refers cites Xinhua.
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