Latest Car News in India

Toyota to pay $17.35 million as fine

This is how bad things happen to good people – intentionally or unintentionally. Japanese car maker Toyota will be paying a huge sum of $17.35 million as fine, which is a record sum. This is the fine that the car maker will be paying for not declaring recalls timely. The National Highway Traffic Safety found that the car maker could have included the recall of 2010 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h declared in June last year with that of the 3.8 million Toyota cars recalled in 2009. Notably, the Toyota cars were recalled for some issue with the floor mat near the accelerator pedal.  

Experts believe that it is a general tendency of car makers to avoid a recall as this causes huge losses in repair and replacements. Most car makers do not voluntary recalls unless there is widespread notice on the issue. In India as well there were reports of an almost no braking situation in Maruti Swift at low speeds but the car maker did not pay heed to it and did not announce a recall. Though it is very difficult for car makers to accept that there is a fault in their cars but most of the car makers do avoid it. But those who do admit and recall all such cars are praised for their transparency and care for their customers. In the present case with Toyota, it is said that the car maker has not admitted its fault but agreed to pay the fine in order to put a brake on the contention with the safety agency.
 

Toyota cars in India include Toyota Etios Liva, Toyota Etios, Toyota Innova, Toyota Fortuner SUV and others and most of the cars such as Innova and Fortuner are toppers in their segment. Also, Toyota cars are considered as some of the best cars in terms of low maintenance and long life. Still even after years of discontinuation of Toyota Qualis, one can find the car in good condition on roads.