Toyota suspends recalled car sales in U.S

Toyota has instructed U.S. dealerships to suspend sales of eight car and truck models with accelerators that stick.

The company said last week that it is recalling 2.3 million of the affected models, in which the gas pedal can stay depressed or return to quickly to idle - the latest in a string of quality problems that have bedeviled the Japanese automaker.

The recall affects the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

The problem has already been linked to at least six deaths, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

Due to the sales suspension, Toyota is expected to stop producing vehicles on five production lines - four in the U.S. and one in Canada - for the week of February 1, the company said in a press release.

The move - halting production and sales of certain models in response to a recall - is unprecedented, auto industry expert John McElroy told CBS News producer Carter Yang. McElroy compared it to Johnson & Johnson's recall of Tylenol in the early 1980s.

It shows that the company is extremely concerned about a public image tarnished by the recalls and does not have its arms around the technical issue, McElroy said.

"The sticking accelerator pedal recall is separate from the on-going recall of Toyota and Lexus vehicles to reduce the risk of pedal entrapment by incorrect or out of place accessory floor mats," the press release said. "Approximately 1.7 million Toyota Division vehicles are subject to both separate recall actions."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/26/business/main6144294.shtml

Climate Change is coming to Hell.

"The problem has already been linked to at least six deaths" -- they don't have much of a choice.