A huge recall was issued by Toyota Motor Corp. on some Toyota models in relation to recently discovered defective gas pedals that have been blamed on a number of accidents.

In January 26, the pronouncement for the recall came as some Toyota brand cars already sold that totals up to 2.3 million have been revealed to have accelerator pedals that could likely get jammed and cause uncontrollable acceleration.

The Toyota models under recall are:

Camry (2007-2010)
Matrix (2009-2010)
Corolla (2009-2010)
Sequoia (2008-2010)
Tundra (2007-2010)
Highlander (2010)
Avalon (2005-2010)
RAV4 (2009-2010)

The same gas pedal problem was not found on certain Camry models like the Camry Hybrid. Toyota’s other car models like the Yaris, Land Cruiser, Tacoma, Prius, etc. are still on sale and have no reported drawbacks.

The listed Toyota models have also recently been suspended in their production from six assembly plants in North America.

Toyota’s reputation as a dependable car manufacturer has been smudged and this would also likely strain their profits for the first quarter of this year, if not the whole year. In 2008, Toyota had outdone General Motors Co. of America in terms of sales, placing them in the number one spot. With this unexpected turn of event, though, the future of Toyota seems bleak and it needs to do everything in its power to make it up to consumers if it wants to regain the market’s trust again.

Toyota’s European market can also experience a similar recall since several parts of the gas pedals that are used in North America are also used on some Toyota models in Europe. It is believed that only one supplier from the US made the defective gas pedal part.

A previous incident in Japan back in 2006 concerning Toyota is also being connected to the recent recall. The incident involved the Japanese government conducting a criminal investigation on Toyota because of a number of accidents that took place and were traced to manufacturing problems. Charges were never filed against any of Toyota’s executives and employees but this incident has come back to haunt the company in a certain way.

Following the recall, Toyota’s shares fell 4.3 percent.
In a previous statement, Toyota announced a forecast sale of 2.19 million cars in the US and Canada and above 8 million car sales worldwide for this year. Because of this recent embarrassment, however, many are doubting that Toyota would meet that target.

Toyota’s current trouble related to its manufacturing is also being blamed on the growth strategy which was organized by its previous president Katsuaki Watanabe. Part of his growth stategy involved increased and fast production which is said to have been a factor to not detecting defective gas pedals earlier. After 4 years as thepresident of Toyota Watanabe was replaced by Akio Toyoda who is the grandson of the founder of Toyota.

There have already been reports from various safety firms that over 2,000 incidents of sudden acceleration involving Toyota vehicles and at least six casualties were also reported.

Toyota’s image may have been stained because of this slip but it is still a leader when it comes to green technology as it continually releases brand new models of the Prius.