Vietnam must inspect Toyota over technical faults

Vietnam must inspect Toyota over technical faults, said Nguyen Manh Hung, chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association.

Hung said he has read the accusation letter from engineer Le Van Tach and response from Toyota Vietnam and that the two have differences.

Tach, currently working for Toyota Vietnam, earlier released documents showing three major problems with cars of the Innova and Fortuner models.

So for safety sake, Vietnam Register, the central government agency in charge of vehicle safety, must inspect and make public its conclusion, Hung told Tuoi Tre.

According to Hung, if the technical faults are like Tach claimed, Toyota Vietnam must recall all the faulty vehicles

“Especially Toyota Innova J are widely used as taxis so if no recall is made, it would cause grave consequences”, Hung said.

Meanwhile, deputy minister of transport Le Manh Hung told Tuoi Tre he has requested the Vietnam Register to carry out investigation activities and make official reports to ministry leaders.

Deputy minister Hung said hard evidence is needed apart from Tach’s accusation.

Users can sue Toyota

Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy chairman cum general secraty of the Vietnam Standardization and Consumers Association (Vinastas) said Tuesday afternoon that so far, no Toyota user has filed any complaint with Vinastas concerning the aforementioned problems.

Hung said users can sue for damages if they can prove that the car they bought is not up to standard and quality as advertised.

Meanwhile, Toyota Vietnam said it is complying with Vietnam Register’s requests but has not received a response from engineer Tach.

On April 1, Toyota Vietnam held a press meeting and admitted that there were technical problems with nearly 9,000 cars of the Innova model, which could cause unsafe incidents when driving.

According to Yoshida, production director of Toyota Vietnam, engineers detected technical problems on Nov, 22, 2010 on Inova J models: problems in their brake systems, their screws or their seats.

However Toyota executives said a recall would not be necessary.

Still, Toyota Vietnam said the cars will not be recalled since the technical problems are minor and do not affect driver safety. The company also said it has not received any complaint from customers concerning the problems so far.

Toyota is the largest carmaker in Vietnam and its products are best sellers in Vietnam car market. It was established in Sep 1995 and sold 2,223 units in February 2011. Innova, in particular, is a popular model in the country, used widely by many taxi companies.

The announcement came after a local quality control agency said it had been tipped off by an engineer about technical problems on Toyota cars that he said could compromise driver safety.

Earlier, Vietnam Register, said engineer Tach, currently working for Toyota Vietnam, released documents showing three major problems with cars of the Innova and Fortuner models.

Tach said the cars made in Vietnam face balance issues since their screws are not tightened properly the way the Japanese company has instructed. He pointed out that the brake systems and seats do not meet safety standards either.