Toyota’s Prius hybrid was Japan’s top-selling car last month for an 11th straight month despite global recall woes, an industry group said yesterday.
Toyota Motor Corp, reeling after recalls over issues that included braking problems with the Prius, sold 35,546 units of the gas-electric vehicle in Japan last month, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.
The recall woes did not appear to dent demand for the Prius.
“Despite the recall trouble, the automaker cannot keep up with surging demand for the Prius,” said Toshiki Miyake, a spokesman for the association.
Consumers chose the Prius with the help of tax breaks and government subsidies for environmentally friendly vehicles, Miyake said.
Toyota’s Prius was also the top-selling car in Japan in the fiscal year that ended in March, with sales quadrupling from a year earlier to 277,485, the association said.
The Prius, now in its third generation since its 1997 introduction, is the best-selling gas-electric hybrid in the world, with a total of 1.7 million units sold worldwide, Toyota said. It is so popular in Japan that it has a six-month waiting list.
Toyota has been fighting to regain its once-sterling reputation for quality after recalling more than 8 million vehicles worldwide, including more than 6 million in the US alone, owing to acceleration problems in multiple models and braking shortcomings in the Prius.
In Washington, the US government accused Toyota of hiding a “dangerous defect” and proposed a record US$16.4 million fine on Monday for failing to quickly alert regulators to safety problems in gas pedals on popular models such as the Camry and Corolla.
The proposed fine, announced by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is the most the government could levy for the sticking gas pedals that have led Toyota to recall millions of vehicles.
There could be further penalties under continuing federal investigations. The Japanese automaker faces private lawsuits seeking many millions more.
Documents obtained from the automaker show that Toyota knew of the problem with the sticking gas pedals in late September but did not issue a recall until late January, LaHood said. The sticking pedals involved 2.3 million vehicles.
“We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations,” LaHood said in a statement. “Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from US officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families.”
Toyota did not say whether it would pay the fine. The automaker has two weeks to accept or contest the penalty.
The company faces 138 potential class-action lawsuits over falling vehicle values and nearly 100 personal injury and wrongful death cases in federal courts nationwide. If Toyota pays the fines, the admission could hurt it in courtrooms. Battling the government over the penalties could undermine the automaker’s attempts to move on from the recalls, however.
“It may be easier to pay it than to let this keep dragging on and drawing more attention to themselves,” said Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst with auto research site Edmunds.com.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to