The world's largest automaker, bleeding millions of dollars a day in lost sales, also declined to say where the parts are going — to plants so production can start again or to dealers so they can start fixing cars sitting in their showrooms or already on the road.
Amid the uncertainty, the recall grew wider. Toyota expanded the recall beyond an initial 2.3 million vehicles and said it would recall an untold number in Europe and about 75,000 in China because of bad gas pedals that can become stuck.
The recall even spread beyond Toyota. Ford Motor Co. stopped production of some full-sized commercial vehicles built by a Chinese joint venture because they have accelerators built by the same parts supplier as in the Toyota recall.
RelatedWhat should Toyota owners do next? Here is the company's answerSeparately, Toyota recalled 1.1 million more vehicles this week because of floor mats that can bend and hold down the gas pedal.
The gas pedal system recall includes 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.
Toyota said the maker of the faulty gas pedal systems, CTS Corp. of Elkhart, Ind., was cranking out replacements at three factories and that some of them already have been shipped to Toyota.
At the same time, Toyota engineers are working with CTS to develop ways to repair, rather than replace, the pedal systems in existing cars and trucks, spokesman Brian Lyons said.
But there was no estimate for how long it would be until customers can get their cars fixed. The parts are being made at CTS plants, but Toyota has not said where they're going within its system of plants and dealers.
"We're well past the root cause identification, and we're well past what needs to be done to change the pedal assembly itself," Lyons said.
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