Toyota Canada Statement: Venza all-weather floor mat recall timeline

  • The Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities has made available certain documents requested by the Committee in connection with hearings related to Toyota Canada Inc. and Transport Canada
  • The recall sequence of events is as follows:
    • Sept. 29, 2009 – Toyota issues a consumer advisory regarding floor mat safety
    • Oct. 5, 2009 – Toyota files a Notice of Defect (NOD) with Transport Canada with respect to certain Toyota and Lexus vehicle floor mats, although no defect had been identified and therefore no remedy announced
    • Nov. 26, 2009 – Toyota announces floor mat safety improvement campaign and that it would initiate a Venza all-weather floor mat recall
    • Dec. 7, 2009 - Toyota files an amendment to the Oct 5 NOD and puts a remedy in place
    • Dec. 16, 2009 – Toyota files Venza all-weather floor mat recall with Transport Canada
  • The ongoing investigation did not initially reveal a defect related to Venza all-weather floor mats but once identified, TCI publicly announced the Venza all-weather floor mat recall Nov. 26 and filed the Notice of Defect with Transport Canada on Dec. 16
 In the interest of providing greater clarity around the issue, TCI has provided the following statements:
 
There is confusion and inaccuracy in how this issue is being characterized

When the issue arose in the United States last September, Toyota embarked on an investigation to determine whether Canadian sourced all-weather floor mats raised similar issues in the affected models.  In or around the same time, we had received a small number of complaints regarding Venza and were assisting Transport Canada in the investigation of two of those complaints.  However, it was not clear from the early investigations that the Venza floor mat was a concern because what we were seeing was stacking of floor mats, possible pedal misapplication and the use of unsecured aftermarket floor mats.
 
During our larger investigation of the floor mat issue, we determined that the all-weather floor mats sourced by Toyota Canada are of a different design and material than those in the United States and they did not result in the same potential for pedal interference that led to the US recall.  The Venza floor mats were sourced in Canada and also differed from those that were provided to customers in the United States but upon further investigation we concluded that there was a risk of pedal interference from an out of position Venza genuine Toyota all-weather floor mat. We therefore issued a Canada unique recall.
 
We believe that Toyota’s track record in identifying and responding to safety issues, quickly and effectively, has made us a consistent industry leader
  • In ensuring that our customers remain confident in our vehicles, we’ve carried out a number of safety campaigns quickly responding to customer concerns
  • We’ve opted for recalls where historically the industry may not have done so
  • Many of Toyota’s investigations are conducted with a exceptionally small number of customer complaints – demonstrating how quickly we respond
  • We believe our investigation time to filing a notice of defect meet or exceed industry practices
 
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