April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.’s new Lexus GX sport-utility vehicle was labeled a “safety risk” by Consumer Reports, complicating efforts by the world’s largest automaker to repair its image after record recalls.
The 2010 GX 460 received the designation and “don’t buy” recommendation because of handling in emergency driving tests, Consumer Reports said today in a statement. The magazine, published by Yonkers, New York-based Consumers Union, said it hadn’t deemed any vehicle a potential safety risk since 2001.
The GX’s rear end “slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways before the electronic stability control system was able to regain control” at a Connecticut test track, the magazine said. “In real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death,” Consumer Reports said.
Toyota’s recalls of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide for defects linked to unintended acceleration and brakes have hurt its reputation and led to U.S. congressional hearings and a rebuke by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The U.S. assessed a $16.4 million penalty against Toyota for delaying its recall of sticky accelerator pedals and said there may be more fines.
“We’re concerned with the results of Consumer Reports testing on the Lexus GX 460 and their suggested buyer recommendation,” Bill Kwong, a Lexus spokesman, said in an e-mail. While the model meets or exceeds U.S. safety standards, Toyota will try to duplicate the test results, he said.
The company “appreciates Consumer Reports bringing it to our attention,” he said.
Government Review
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it’s in the process of checking the GX 460 to ensure compliance with standards for electronic stability control, which “should prevent the kind of fishtail event described in the CU’s tests.” Drivers of the Lexus SUV should “use care and caution,” the agency said in a statement.
Toyota’s U.S. sales rose 41 percent in March after two months of declines, as the automaker offered incentives such as no-interest loans and discount leases. The March gains included a 42 percent increase for Lexus. GX sales tripled last month to 1,785 and rose almost threefold to 4,787 in the first quarter.
The GX has a starting price of about $52,000, according to Lexus’s Web site. The Toyota City, Japan-based company has its U.S. sales headquarters in Torrance, California.
‘Oversteer Test’
Consumer Reports checked the initial findings in the “lift-off oversteer” test of the GX by repeating it on a second vehicle, said Douglas Love, a spokesman for the magazine.
The magazine said it’s unaware of reports of accidents resulting from what it found in the GX tests. In the oversteer test, “as the vehicle is driven through a turn, the driver quickly lifts his foot off the accelerator pedal to see how the vehicle reacts,” Consumer Reports said.
Toyota American depositary receipts fell 52 cents to $79.03 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have declined 6.1 percent this year.
The magazine’s safety ratings have caused other automakers to sue Consumers Union. After Isuzu Motors Ltd. sued over a “not acceptable” rating on its 1996 Trooper SUV, a federal jury in Los Angeles in 2000 ruled that Consumers Union hadn’t libeled or defamed the company.
A Suzuki Motor Corp. lawsuit over a Consumers Union rating of the Samurai small SUV was dismissed in 2000 by a federal judge in Santa Ana, California.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in 2001 attacked the magazine’s “not acceptable” safety rating on the Montero Limited SUV as a misrepresentation. Consumers Union stood by its tests, in which it said the vehicle tipped onto two wheels in turns.
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