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Toyota - Source: Reuters -
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Thirty-one percent of Americans now think Toyota and Lexus
vehicles are not safe to ride, while 55% say the carmaker dragged
its feet in responding to potential safety defects, according to a
poll.
The USA Today/Gallup survey of 2,021 adults showed fewer doubts
among current Toyota owners, with only 14% saying the cars are
unsafe. A large majority of owners - 74% - say they have not lost
confidence in the vehicles.
Pollsters said findings also suggest enduring loyalty to Toyota
vehicles among prospective US car buyers generally. While 17% of
prospective buyers said they would no longer consider a Toyota
vehicle, 53% said they would.
The poll, conducted February 27-28, has a 3 percentage point margin
of error.
Toyota has recalled some 8.5 million vehicles globally due to
uncontrolled acceleration and braking glitches that have hurt its
reputation for quality and shone a spotlight on vehicle safety
issues.
The company is facing a slide in US sales after recalling more than
6 million vehicles in that market alone.
Tuesday's poll was released ahead of a US Senate Commerce Committee
hearing at which Toyota Motor Corp's North America President
Yoshimi Inaba was expected to discuss new quality changes that give
safety a sharper focus in vehicle design.
Gallup said US consumer loyalty may be due in part to the fact that
relatively few Toyota owners claim to be affected by the recalls.
Just 14% said their vehicle appeared on the recall list for gas
pedal problems, while 70% said their car was not on the list.
The US government got slightly higher marks for its response to
safety problems than the company did.
While 55% those surveyed said Toyota did not move quickly enough,
42% said the federal government's response was slow while 37% said
the government response was about right.
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