Toyota reports problem with new Tundra
Automaker reports flaw in early versions of the vehicle caused engine failure, says it believes the problem is solved.
May 29 2007: 3:11 PM EDT
DETROIT (Reuters) -- A glitch in Toyota Motor Corp.'s Tundra pickup truck has caused 20 engine failures and forced the company to track down other trucks at risk for the problem, the Japanese automaker said Tuesday.
Toyota (down $0.01 to $119.99,
Charts) said a flaw in the camshaft in a limited number of 5.7-liter, V-8 engines installed in early versions of the Tundra has caused the engine component to crack and fail.
Toyota has billed the Tundra as its most important product launch ever. Its engine problems come as Toyota faces pressure to maintain its reputation for quality in the face of a stretch of fast growth that has made it the world's largest automaker.
Toyota said it has determined that a flaw in the casting of a still-undetermined number of Tundra camshafts - made for Toyota's Alabama engine plant by an outside supplier - prompted the engine failures.
"The supplier has made changes, and we think the problem is solved," Toyota spokesman John McCandless said. Toyota declined to identify the component supplier.
In cases in which a Tundra camshaft fails, Toyota is replacing the truck engine at no charge, representatives said.
Toyota spokesman John Hanson said that the automaker has no plans to inspect vehicles for the flaw and is confident that it can identify what it expects will be a small number of trucks at risk for developing the camshaft problem.
"We're still trying to get our arms around how many could have been affected," he said.
The camshaft is designed to open and close intake and exhaust valves in the engines. A break in the part would cause the truck's engine to shut down or fail to start, Hanson said.
The 5.7-liter V-8 - the largest engine made by Toyota - has accounted for more than 70 percent of the new Tundra sales since the truck launched in February.
Toyota, which overtook
General Motors Corp. (down $0.38 to $30.11,
Charts,
Fortune 500) as the world's largest automaker in the first quarter, sold more than 37,000 of the new Tundra trucks in the first three months on the market in the United States.
The truck, which is being built at a new Toyota assembly plant in San Antonio, Texas, takes aim at a profitable niche still dominated by the Detroit-based automakers.
Toyota has marketed the new Tundra as a full-size work truck fully competitive with the offerings from its Detroit rivals, including
Ford Motor Co.'s (down $0.03 to $8.42,
Charts,
Fortune 500) market-leading F-series trucks.
Toyota held back the launch of the new Tundra until February in order to produce enough of the 5.7-liter, V-8 engines to meet expected demand.
Other aspects of the Tundra launch have also faced scrutiny, including Toyota's uncharacteristic reliance on incentives of up to $2,500 to boost sales of the new truck.
The Tundra also received four-star safety ratings in U.S. government crash safety tests, a lower rating than Ford's competing F-150.
In a bid to capitalize on that gap, Ford began running a series of ads earlier this month that highlight how its F-150 trucks have performed in crash tests.
Tundra Engine Failure
