Toyota recalls 688,000 cars in China
August 26, 2009 by David Twomey
Toyota Motor Corporation will recall 688,314 cars made at its two China joint ventures starting Tuesday to fix a faulty window-control switch, which is the carmaker’s largest recall in China.
Reuters Newsagency quotes analysts as saying the recall will not have any long-term impact on the Japanese company’s growth prospect in China as the defect is minor and only involves a single supplier.
The recall, which comes at time when Toyota has lost some of its steam after years of fast growth, may push some buyers to its European and US rivals for now, the analysts said.
“The size of the recall is big, but it won’t be a major problem for Toyota given the nature of the defect. Still, there will be some impact for the short term,” said Huang Zherui, an analyst with CSM Worldwide, a global industry consultancy.
In the first half, the Japanese automaker sold 284,000 passenger cars in China, almost unchanged from a year earlier, due largely to its limited offering of small models.
In contrast, General Motors Company reported a 38 per cent rise in its sales in the country, helped by Beijing’s aggressive cut in sales tax for small cars.
Toyota’s recall, announced by China’s quality watchdog late on Sunday, included 384,736 Camry models made by Toyota’s joint venture in south China with Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group between May 2006 and December 2008.
A total of 22,767 Yaris light cars made by the same venture between May and December of last year also will be recalled, the statement said.
The list also included 35,523 Vios cars made at its joint venture with FAW between February and December 2008 and 245,288 Corollas made at the venture from May 2007 to December 2008, it said.
A spokesman for Toyota’s China operations said he had received no reports of injuries or accidents linked with the defect.
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hmmm… surprising??
if toyota cant maintain quality in china what chance do the new chinese manufacturers have?
Toyota always claim their cars are “Made in Toyota” in Toyota speak this means the quality is the same in all plants regardless of country of manufacturer. Well this proves otherwise but i’m guessing Toyota’s PR machine will come up with it’s usual bull$h!tt excuses.
Captain, on the contrary. This shows that Toyotas quality in China is pretty much the same as any other Toyota plant, ie only industry average, despite a so-called quality reputation.
Guys its a window switch, its not like the airbag is going to deploy in you’re face
I hope you are not really that stupid … a door catching fire not a big deal?
The pictures in the articles are not even Toyota cars in China. The hatchback version of Corolla is never available in China, and Camry in China has the appearance of Aurion.
Anyway, David, don’t you think it is VERY biased and naive to conclude that ‘Chinese manufactures can’t maintain quality’ just because Toyota in China had a recall for window-control switch?????????
I wouldn’t think Australia build Sh*t cars just because some recalls.
Lastly, the recall number is big because the market in China is big. How long it will take Toyota Australia to sell 688,000 cars?
Thats dangerous,I feel sorry for the poor chinese motorists whos windows automatically rolls down and then get hit in the face from a lump of smog.
a window switch poses no threat to life and limb
unlike the local aussie cars which rust, exhibit piston rattle, power steering failure, fuel leakage and seat belt failure
also local cars have suffered window switch failure as well
toyota, holden and ford have had MORE than their fair share of recalls
if you wanna be scared just google ‘commodore or falcon recall’
it’s all there, listed on a govt. site
So true Tony, same issues are present on local falcadores, yet since they are fleet sales, and since they lack the funds, they just don’t brother with recalls…
My brother’s falcon just developed another propblem with his rear suspension… what a suprise!!
Aren’t we forgetting an Engine malfunction that occured to one of the very first “supercharged” TRD Aurions.
But wait on that wasn’t a recall was it that was a suspenion from sale….which IMHO is even more severe
Because unlike a recall where the car is taken to the dealership and the problem is rectified usually at the same time the regular service is done and the customer can still pick up his/her car the same day
A “suspension from sale” is like removing an item of food from the shelves due to a contamination scare etc which stops anyone from trying or buyng them… Not only that but it themn puts an element of doubt in poples minds aas to whether or not the product will ber as good if not better if/when it returns to the stores/dealers
Which is evident by the poor sales of TRDs; slashing the price 3 -4 times and them eventually getting the axe in Oz
wheelnut, TRD is gone, get over it!!!
Recalls in Australia ‘86 – ‘09
Holden 106
Toyota 98
Hardly the big disparity Toyotaphiles want it to be.
matter of fact it’s 1 more for Holden every 3 years.
DesignEng(c)
108 thats way too much, considering the significantly narrower range of vehicles that holden has in Australia!!
It’s a tiny little electric window switch, and it took how many cars to work out it was not working?
Toyota has had problems with switches before; remember the Camry light switch 2006 (on the indicator stall)
The little connectors inside wore out over time and the headlights would just turn off, until you hit the next bump.
I wonder if it is the same supplier.
Yaris recall was one million cars?, something to do with the foam in the b pillar catching alight if the load limiter goes off.
Recalls happen all the time, but Toyota have had more than their fair share lately.
Tomas; yes TRD are gone…. However; I couldn’t give a
sh!t if TRD were still here or not – because they didn’t offer anything which I personally saw as even remotely desirable or appealing – if they sold something such as the TRD-US V8 Tundra Pick Up here; different story]
My point was that a major incident such as the TRDs engine malfunction [which Toyo-PR would like us to believe was caused by as Conrod detaching itself from the crankshaft] had a much more negative impact on sales than any of the various problems experienced by a number of Commodore and Falcon owners – and it was just ONE car.
Not to mention a car that wasn’t even on sale at the time and therefore; didn’t affect any of Toyotas customers.
Wheelnut says,
“My point was that a major incident such as the TRDs engine malfunction [which Toyo-PR would like us to believe was caused by as Conrod detaching itself from the crankshaft] had a much more negative impact on sales than any of the various problems experienced by a number of Commodore and Falcon owners – and it was just ONE car.”
Can you prove your assertion??
Because quite frankly it is an extremly stupid assertion!!
Aaahhh Tomas – TRD Aren’t in Australia anymore are they?…. Do you really need any more evidence than that?
Wasnt the TRD Aurion engine failure caused by some idiotic salesman doing a “neutral to drive” at 6000rpm? I didnt like the TRD range either, but if Holden or Ford suspended sales because of some retard abusing the car and it breaks, the things would never be on sale at all!
Cars are complicated pieces of machinery, good on ya Toyota for admitting the problem and obliging yourself to fix it. If only Holden and Ford were so forthcoming.
Wheelnut, as i have told you already, TRD aren’t in Australia anymore!! But thats because nobody was interested in a hotted FWD Aurion!! Not a TRDs engine malfunction, that anyone hardly heard about!! So you can’t back up your previous assertion can you?!
Good to see an article about a switch recall (in China no less…) degenerate into a rambling by the usual suspect on TRD.
Credit where it is due that Toyota recall for such a minor defect. Most people will see this and Toyota’s quality reputation will soar even higher as a result.
What can u say Toyota are just too clever!
Thomas69 u are still a dill by the way.LOL.
When in Rome I suppose…….(Build as the Chinese do)
Show me any mainstream car manufacturer that has not had a recall…Hmmm
It’s a tiny window switch..lets get real here.
Look every manufacturer has recalls at some point, its more important to look at what they get recalled for. In this case its a faulty switch, so what. I would rather a faulty switch than the faulty paint, seat belt, driveline vibration, brakes and diff that I had with my Falcon
Yep……i am sick of hearing about faulty Falcons. Its funny but my wifes Camry is on its second engine and second transmission and i have lost count how many brake pads and discs it has gone through………..all in just 113000k.
On the other hand my FG XR6 Turbo has been totally fault free in its first 29,000k and its by far the best car we have had. Our previous car was a VE SS and it was on the back of a tow truck 5 times in 8 months. Even my old AU ute is still going fine after 320000k …….keeps going and going and going……
Thomarse………u r like a dog with a bone. Get a life
The hassles with Toyota’s and problems dont enter your thinking Thomarse
sorry its Thomas 79
Wheelnut…. TRD’s engine malfunction is due to Australian-based and owned company (from WA). They were contracted to “supercharge” then engine. The “problem” was due to supplier, in this case the WA based company.
Just like the Tundra in the states, the camshaft “snapping” issue was due to Supplier submitting parts to the plants that are below quality or specs. The quality engineering department at the plant obviously took the blame due to them accepting below quality standards, but also the supplier could of “botched” the documentations during parts submission… HENCE, the supplier was obligated to PAY for all replacement parts… not Toyota.
This china problem is the same that the supplier obviously failed to submit parts that met specs, and particularly in china where quality from suppliers is questionable.
You have to realize TOYOTA decided to recall the cars because the quality was below their standards… it wasnt an issue of regulation being broken or safety compromised… it was to ensure that iTOYOTA vehicles MEET their standards which is very high… and in china its a work in progress especially for Toyota’s quality standards… I would know… its a very very very tedious process when it comes to ensuring quality parts are supplied…. sometimes Suppliers “mess up” by providing parts that are inadequate and its usually on the contract that the supplier will PAY for all costings of the recall…
Based on your argument to support Toyota I guess Holden and Ford faulty components could use the same excuse Lukaas :)
how come everytime goes off at eachother when there’s a toyota recall?? is its toyota’s window switch, or a supplier?
Because Toyota people are self centred as truly think that there cars are best and sell more then others and nobody else can have more success! With all that sales success and reality catching up on trying to stay number 1 – is it suprising that TRD and success on F1 is average. Even the biggest fail and spreads itself thin!
Lukaas – The Supercharger in the TRD was provided by an external supplier..? No Sh!t!.
However; as far as I am aware; there have been no reports of any similar incidents involving the same make/model supercharger in any other car other than the TRD Aurion
Therefore; given that it was such an isolated incident – it could only mean that Toyota didn’t do enough R&D to ensure that the supercharger was more well suited to their high-tech F1 inspired V6 engine.
I mean when a house or bridge etc suddenly collapses mostpeople don’t blame the people who supplied the bricks or the steel – as the same bricks are used in other structures which are still standing…. they blame the people/company eho built it don’t they.
It’s then up to the company to investigate as to what the actual cause was – which Toyota did and they found a new supplier.. unfortunately the damage had [most likely] already been done.
Just shows you no manufacturer is perfect life guard, you have had bad experiences with a Toyota and I have had some with Ford. I drive a VW now and its been faultless but I don`t pretend that other people haven`t had any troubles with VW.Now that would be just plain dumb.
Toyota’s are cheap junk I swore the off years ago I drive Chevy now and surprisingly have not had any big problems in 133,000 miles