By now, if you follow automotive news at all, you've heard of the 2.3 million vehicles recalled by Toyota.  It's not like other car manufacturers don't have recalls, but Toyota's is massive, and involves a very serious component of the vehicles.  Toyota's recall affects the gas pedal, which can be extremely dangerous if it fails, unlike the Camaro battery cable recall.

Affected Toyota Recall Vehicles:

• 2009-2010 Rav 4
• 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2010 Highlander
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

Ignore the immediate millions of dollars needed to actually fix these vehicles, imagine the consumer backlash of not trusting Toyota vehicles in the future.  What kind of affect will this Toyota recall have on future sales?  In an attempt to keep dealerships happy, Toyota has agreed to pay up to $75,000 per dealership to cover incidentals involved with this recall.  It's money to keep dealerships from jumping ship and switching manufacturers.

In January alone it's estimated that Toyota dealerships have lost more than 20,000 unit sales.  Couple the gas pedal scare with the latest news of brake problems with the Prius in Japan and you have the right mixture to create consumer hatred for a long time to come.  Perhaps if Toyota would have responded faster to eradicate acceleration faster, as far back as 2002, they wouldn't be in the mess they are in now.

In Japan, shouldn't the CEO go fall on a sword?

According to Toyota they will start manufacturing a Toyota Camry Hybrid in China by 2010.  They are hopiong to ramp up production as they see a demand for hybrid vehicles increase, obviously in line with increasing fuel prices.  Seems to be a smart move, especially considering the Chinese government recently increased gas prices, the potential for demand on an Electric-Gas Hybrid vehicle is good.

This isn't the first Hybrid car Toyota has manufactured in China, but the Toyota Prius was only made in very short supply.  It's reported that there were over 430,000 Hybrid's made, less than 400 were built in the China manufacturing plant.  However, keeping inventory close to home may be in the minds of Toyota higher ups.

Currently Toyota has plans to produce the Camry Hybrid in Thailand and Australia until 2010.

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