Watchdog announces Toyota recalls in China
Toyota Motor (China) Investment will recall 48 Avalon vehicles from April 26 due to defective air bags, China's quality watchdog announced on Wednesday.
The recall covers Avalon vehicles produced between July 1, 2002 and May 6, 2003, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said.
The recall is triggered by insufficient electromagnetic wave resistance of the air bag ECU, which could cause air bag launch during driving or seat belt preloader error.
The company will repair affected cars' faulty parts free of charge.
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"Insufficient electromagnetic wave resistance" means that the electronics are insufficiently protected against interference by radio waves and other electromagnetic waves. Theoretically, airbags could deploy when the car goes by a big radio tower, for example.
There are some documents here that provide evidence of various kinds of vulnerabilities to radio wave interference in Toyota vehicles, exactly what Toyota has been flatly denying for many years.
In one of these docs, one of Toyota's own electrical engineers, Mr. Itakura, was driving a Hilux vehicle near a U.S. army base in Japan, when he noticed the vehicle hesitate. He went back to his office to report that and was told "such a thing could never happen." Nonetheless, it clued him in that electronics could be the cause of SUA, and he later demanded that they be investigated as one potential SUA cause. I am almost certain that the DOJ has this document.
Other docs show an aftermarket cruise control system, combined with a two-way radio installed in a Yaris, could cause speed control misbehavior. Toyota Canada authorized the cruise control installation, then hastily backtracked when a car went haywire as a result, prompting a flurry of emails around the globe with urgent requests that aftermarket cruise controls not be permitted. Is this a safety culture?
Another document is a report from Subbaiah at Exponent to Toyota indicating that in testing they found a vehicle would respond to electromagnetic radiation.
I wonder. Why has Toyota been declaring that their EMC testing is quite thorough and reliable?