NAGOYA, Japan (AP) _ A Toyota executive says the unprecedented scale of the gas pedal problem means damage to the company’s sales may be greater than previous recalls.
Toyota Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki, who oversees quality control at the world’s No. 1 automaker, acknowledged a perception the company was slow in responding to the problem potentially sticky pedals.
But he says Toyota made finding a fix a priority. That fix was announced Monday and parts are said to be on the way to dealers.
Sasaki says generally after a recall, sales drop about 20 percent in the first month and then gradually recover.
According to numbers Toyota released Tuesday, the recall covered 4.45 million cars worldwide, including 2.48 million of them in North America.
Sasaki also denied there were any electronic problems. He says the company had investigated for electronic problems, and hadn’t found any.