Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Toyota

On Tuesday, Toyota Motor Corporation announced that a United States grand jury has subpoenaed documents concerning problems with steering rods connected to the front wheels of its vehicles.

The subpoena from the grand jury compounds the legal woes of the automaker--once regarded as an industry benchmark for high-quality automobiles—which has recalled over eight million vehicles globally since the end of 2009.

The recalls primarily deal with unintended acceleration issues, including sticking accelerator pedals and faulty floor mats.

Toyota reported that it was cooperating with the subpoena, which is at least the third one Toyota has gotten so far this year. A spokesperson for Toyota said a United States division received the most recent subpoena from a Manhattan federal grand jury on June 29.

It remains uncertain which models and model years are included in the most recent subpoena. Two months ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started a probe of the timing of a Toyota recall in September of 2005 for a steering relay rod issue.

Past Subpoenas

In February, Toyota received a federal grand jury subpoena in Manhattan concerning unintended acceleration, and in March received another from Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox requesting information on recalls related to the issue.

A grand jury investigation increases the possibility of criminal charges, in addition to dozens of civil suits that may cost the automaker billions of dollars in damages.

The probe by the NHTSA will look into whether Toyota informed the agency of a defect with the steering shafts within five business days, as U.S. law requires.

In 2004, Toyota issued a recall of Hilux trucks in Japan for faulty steering relay rods, but told U.S. regulators at the time that the problem was endemic to Japanese vehicles, according to the NHTSA.

The carmaker later conceded the problem also impacted vehicles sold in the U.S. The 2005 United States recall included approximately 978,000 automobiles, including pick-up trucks from model years 1989-1996 and the 4Runner SUV.

In April, the United States government levied a $16.4-million fine against Toyota for postponing a January recall of gas pedals that failed to spring back as they were intended to.

Tuesday, Toyota shares were down by 2.6 percent when they closed. The Nikkei benchmark average was down 1.2 percent overall.