Investigation Into Toyota Pedal Problems Widens

[nisarnadaf]

U.S. safety officials have widened their investigation into Toyota's sticky gas pedals to see whether the same problem could exist in vehicles from other auto manufacturers that used the same pedal supplier as Toyota.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it has sent a letter to CTS, the Indiana company that made the pedals that caused Toyota to recall millions of vehicles worldwide. The safety agency wants to know more about pedals that CTS — which has a manufacturing facility in Mississauga, Ont. — made for other auto companies.

CTS says it makes pedals for Honda and Nissan cars and a small number of Ford vehicles in China. The company has been adamant that the issues are limited to Toyota alone. Other automakers have also said their pedals are based on different designs and aren't at risk of the same problems.

Fourteen complaints in Japan

Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday it has also received 14 complaints since July last year about brake problems with Toyota's new Prius hybrid.

The ministry ordered Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker, to investigate the complaints. The other 13 cases happened between December 2009 and January 2010. Transport Ministry official Masaya Ota said the ministry has yet to receive a formal report on the complaints from Toyota.

Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said the company has received reports about the Prius complaints in North America and in Japan and was now looking into the matter.

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