Toyota Reaches $1.1 Billion Recall Deal

VOA Breaking News
December 26, 2012 at 6:40 pm (UTC-5)

Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation has reached a $1.1 billion settlement deal to resolve a class action lawsuit by U.S. vehicle owners whose cars suddenly and unintentionally sped up.

A Toyota spokesman Wednesday said the deal includes direct payments to customers as well as the cost of retrofitting more than 3 million older cars with a brake override system. It also includes a $250 million fund for former Toyota owners who sold their vehicles at reduced prices in recent years because of bad publicity.

The terms of the deal still must be approved by a U.S. federal judge.

Toyota has recalled more than 12 million vehicles worldwide since 2009, after acceleration flaws were first reported a year earlier.

A U.S. congressional probe in 2010 elicited a public apology from the president of Toyota for acceleration, braking and electrical problems.