Production lines at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada plants in Cambridge and Woodstock will go idle next week, but employees won't be laid off, after the company ordered a halt to the manufacture and sale of eight vehicle models.

At issue is a problem with accelerator pedals that stick, which forced the recall of 2.3 million vehicles in the United States and 270,000 in Canada last week.

Affected is the production of Corolla, Matrix and RAV4 vehicles made by the nearly 6,000 people who work at the plants in Cambridge and Woodstock. Those plants are among six facilities in North America affected by the week-long shutdown.

Mike Goss, a spokesperson at the Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America office, said the company is not laying off employees who work on the affected production lines, but instead will have them doing other activities in the plants for the week starting Feb. 1.

"We are providing work to all of our team members," Goss said. "So they will come in and work on some plant improvement activities and perhaps do training, but we are providing work. We are not laying anybody off."

The production of the Lexus RX350, which is not affected by the problem, will continue in Cambridge, but the lines that produce the Corolla and the Matrix will be halted. Meanwhile, in Woodstock, vehicle production will stop entirely because that plant only has one line, which is exclusively devoted to making the RAV4.

The Corolla is the second-best selling car in Canada while the RAV4 and the Matrix are second and third in sales for the company.

The auto giant also ordered dealers in Canada and the United States to suspend sales of 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. Area Toyota dealers could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday night that American Toyota dealers said they were concerned the move would hamper sales and were hopeful parts to fix the problem could be distributed quickly.

"They're going the extra mile to reassure people that they really care about the customers," said Earl Stewart, owner of a Toyota dealership in North Palm Beach, Fla. "It is something that's going to be at least a short-term hardship on the dealers, and especially on Toyota."

Goss said the production had to be suspended because the dealers can't sell those models. "Our job is to give our dealers what they need and because they will not be selling those vehicles, we cannot overload them."

Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight in Troy, Mich., said Toyota typically sells about 65,000 Camrys and Corollas per month in the U.S., and the suspension of sales could strike the company's bottom line and reputation for quality.

"That's huge if they can't sell these and they don't have a fix identified. They need to go and get a solution to this fast," Bragman said.

In the U.S., Toyota sold more than 34,000 Camrys in December, making the midsize sedan America's best-selling car, with 3.4 per cent of the market. Sales rose 38 per cent from a year earlier. Sales of the Corolla and Matrix totalled 34,220 last month, with 3.3 per cent of the market and sales up nearly 55 per cent from December of 2008.

There are close to 6,000 people working at the Toyota plants in Cambridge and Woodstock. In December, the company announced that it wanted to add a second line to the Woodstock plant starting in March, adding an additional 800 employees there, which would bring the total workforce between the two plants to about 6,500.

Goss said he can't predict whether there will be any longer term fallout as a result of the problem. But "obviously we want to get the fix in place as soon as possible."

For now, the production is suspended for a week, but Goss said he could not say what would happen in the longer term if the suspension of sales continues. In an email to employees, company officials said, "We don't know yet how long this pause will last but we will make every effort to resume production soon."

Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice-president and general manager, said "the action is necessary until a remedy is finalized."

Plants in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas as well as Canada are affected. However, the sales suspension does not affect Lexus or Scion vehicles. Toyota also said the Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser and select Camry models, including all Camry hybrids, would remain for sale.

The problem with accelerator pedals is the latest quality problem to confront the world's No. 1 automaker.

It follows a larger recall months earlier of 4.2 million vehicles because of problems with gas pedals becoming trapped under floor mats, causing sudden acceleration. That problem was the cause of several crashes, including some fatalities.

The recall in November involving the floor mats did not apply to the company's Canadian vehicles. But Toyota Canada said it would still make changes to the gas pedals and floors of some of its vehicles and install a brake override system on some.

And in a situation unique to Canada, the company recommended Toyota Venza owners take out any Toyota-brand drivers'-side all-weather floor mats. Toyota-brand carpeted floor mats were OK if properly installed and secured, it said.

With files from Associated Press

AUTHOR: Rose Simone, Record Staff

January 27th, 2010

SOURCE: The Record