Recall Watch: Toyota Still Trying to Outrun Accelerator Flaws

No wonder Toyota has been keeping a relatively tight rein on major new marketing initiatives until very lately: It wasn’t finished airing its dirty laundry, and there was no sense further exposing a brand that remains highly soiled in the eyes of many Americans.

Just days after hatching its biggest new ad campaign in awhile, dubbed “#1 for a Reason,” Toyota added to its woeful safety-recall saga again on Thursday by announcing yet another recall of more vehicles — almost 2.2 million — related to its problem of stuck accelerator pedals.

This came not long after the outside world, at least, had figured all of that was behind the company.

Specifically, Toyota recalled 2.17 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles from the 2006 and early 2007 model years to modify the shape of the plastic pad embedded in the driver’s side floor carpet. The problem, after servicing, could lead to accelerator pedals getting trapped in floor mats or carpeting – exactly the initial problem that led to the company’s gigantic safety recall in early 2010.

Ironically, today’s action came exactly one year after Toyota President Akio Toyoda was hauled before the U.S. Congress to talk about the company’s safety problems.

And it came as Toyota clearly continues to struggle to get past a difficulty that is — both in its nature and its size — so uncharacteristic of the company that came to dominate the U.S. auto market over the last generation.

That’s why Toyota also has been installing a number of steps to reform its safety-related operations, in an attempt to ensure that this kind of catastrophe never occurs again. According to The Wall Street Journal, Toyota over the last several months has launched a number of low-profile such initiatives, including a global computer database to track vehicle repairs and cut reporting times about customer complaints.

Lately, Toyota sales executives have been assuring the world that loyal Toyota customers at least are remaining in the fold, even if the brand has a much harder time making “conquest” sales than it used to.

But if Toyota can’t put its recall problem in the rear-view mirror once and for all, even lifetime Toyota fans may get second thoughts.