Toyota has confirmed that it is the subject of a criminal investigation by a federal grand jury in New York, which has subpoenaed documents about possible steering rod defects.
Car company waited a year to issue U.S. recall over defective steering rods.
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Toyota spokeswoman Celeste Migliore said a subpoena was issued on June 29 for documents "related to defective, broken and/or fractured steering relay rods." "[Toyota Motor Corp.] and its subsidiaries intend to cooperate with the investigation," said Migliore, "and are currently preparing their response."
The criminal probe follows an ABC News report that Toyota waited almost a year to recall vehicles in the U.S. with defective steering rods, despite issuing a similar recall in Japan in October 2004. Spurred in part by an inquiry by ABC over the issue, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is also conducting its own inquiry, reviewing new information suggesting that Toyota knew of complaints over breaking steering rods in the U.S. prior to 2004.
The new cases emerged during a lawsuit filed against Toyota by the family of 18-year-old Levi Stewart of Fairfield Idaho, who was killed when his Toyota truck rolled over. Stewart's family blamed the crash on a defective steering rod and says the accident could have been prevented if Toyota had issued the recall in a timely manner.
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