Toyota’s shares in Japan have fallen 16.7 per cent in five days as investors shy away from the firm, which has had to recall of millions of its cars due to a faulty accelerator pedal.
Toyota has recalled more than eight million vehicles affected by the problem in the US, and sales of some popular models suspected of having the fault have now been suspended.
Yesterday Toyota confirmed this recall would extend to Europe and China, after it was revealed models sold in these regions were also affected.
Shares in Toyota can now be bought for 3490 Japanese yen (£23.97) after six consecutive working days of decline.
One Japanese industry analyst has warned that the full cost of the problem to Toyota may not become clear for several weeks.
“Toyota's stock might fall further until the impact on earnings and profits from the recall becomes clear," said Hiroaki Kuramochi from Tokai Tokyo Securities.
The US House of Representatives has also confirmed its intentions to “examine the persistent consumer complaints of sudden unintended acceleration in vehicles manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation”.
The hearing will take place on 25 February.
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Re: Toyota shares plummet
Someone asked for advice on what to do if the accelerator sticks;
Advice to Customers Concerned about Accelerator Pedal Issues
We understand that, whilst the probability is rare, any chance that a pedal may mechanically stick in a partially depressed position is a concern for a driver.
Therefore we have detailed below some advice which you should follow if you do experience a problem whilst driving:
For vehicles with manual transmission, depress the clutch pedal and shift to Neutral and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.
For vehicles with automatic transmission, Multi Mode Transmission or CVT: Shift the transmission gear select lever to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.
If you need to stop immediately, the vehicle can be controlled by stepping firmly and steadily on the brake pedal. Do not pump the brake pedal as it will deplete the vacuum utilised for the power brake assist.
If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.
If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push and hold the button to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.
If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.
http://blog.toyota.co.uk/advice-to-customers-concerned-about-accelerator...
Re: Toyota shares plummet
As Ford worked out, the only time to recall a car is when the cost of compensation to the dead, dying and wounded is greater than the cost of repairing it.
As G pointed out, Lexus did the recall, I would surmise it's because the average Lexus driver sits near the top of the gene pool and we need such people.
So we can conclude that Darwinism is a wonderful and measurable thing and that if you buy a Corolla then you must pay the ferryman.
Re: Toyota shares plummet
May go down a bit yet but a safe investment in the long term. Considering Ford and GM can kill more of their customers in fun (Pinto fires, Corvairs spinning like tops before smashing in all and sundry usually in reverse and faulty tyred Explorers parking on there roofs to name but a few incidents) than Toyota have managed to kill in ernest and still survive I doubt this turn of events will result in Toyota being the next SAAB.