Post by TonyV on Apr 13, 2010 23:42:53 GMT -5
Last Updated: April 13. 2010 8:22PM .
Toyota to halt sales of Lexus GX 460 SUV
David Shepardson and Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
Detroit -- Toyota Motor Corp. told its dealers late Tuesday to stop selling its Lexus GX 460 SUV, after Consumer Reports urged consumers not to buy the vehicle.
The automaker has sold about 6,000 of the 2010 Lexus GX 460 model since it was introduced last fall. It isn't clear how many vehicles are on dealer lots.
"For any customer who has purchased a 2010 GX 460 and is concerned about driving their vehicle, we will provide a loaner car until a remedy is available," Mark Templin, Lexus Group vice president and general manager, said in a statement late Tuesday.
Toyota said earlier in the day that it was concerned about the Consumer Reports findings.
"Our engineers conduct similar tests and we feel these procedures provide a good indication of how our vehicles will perform in the real-world; however, we will try to duplicate the Consumer Reports' test to determine if appropriate steps need to be taken," the company said. "Please keep in mind that the 2010 GX 460 meets or exceeds all federal government testing requirements. Customer safety and satisfaction remain our highest priorities."
Consumer Reports said its engineers experienced problems in emergency-handling tests that suggest the vehicle may be prone to rollovers.
"When pushed to its limits on a handling course on Consumer Reports' test track, the rear of the GX that Consumer Reports purchased slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways before the electronic stability control system was able to regain control," the magazine said in a statement.
"Consumer Reports believes that in real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death," it said.
Consumer Reports said it was unaware of any such reports.
The Japanese automaker already is struggling to stem the damage to its reputation after recalling 8.5 million vehicles worldwide, including 6 million in the United States. It is recalling vehicles mostly because of acceleration-related issues but also to fix braking and other problems.
Toyota faces the largest-ever U.S. fine -- $16.4 million for failing to act quickly enough on the recalls.
Templin said Toyota executives "are taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously and are determined to identify and correct the issue Consumer Reports identified."
He said Toyota is "confident that the GX meets our high safety standards. Our engineering teams are vigorously testing the GX using Consumer Reports' specific parameters to identify how we can make the GX's performance even better."
Consumer Reports said all four of its engineers who tested the Lexus GX experienced the handling problem during an exercise used to evaluate what is called lift-off oversteer. In that test, as the vehicle is driven through a turn, the driver quickly lifts his foot off the accelerator pedal to see how the vehicle reacts.
In real-world driving, lift-off oversteer could occur when a driver enters a highway's exit ramp or drives through a sweeping turn and encounters an unexpected obstacle or suddenly finds that the turn is too tight for the vehicle's speed. A natural impulse is to quickly lift off the accelerator pedal.
Consumer Reports engineers conduct this evaluation on every vehicle they test, including 95 SUVs.
"No other SUV in recent years slid out as far as the GX 460, including the Toyota 4Runner, which shares the same platform," the publication said.
Joe Tetherow, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA, said the automakers engineers "conducted similar tests during the development of the new GX and had no issues."
To confirm the results, Consumer Reports paid to use another GX 460 from Lexus and experienced the same problem.
dshepardson@detnews.com (202) 662-8735