Toyota Expands Tests to All Its SUV Models

Toyota Motor Corp. said it would expand safety testing to all of its sport-utility vehicles, after suspending U.S. sales of its Lexus GX 460 amid rollover concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported. The car maker also decided to suspend sales of the 2010 Lexus GX 460 in other countries where the luxury vehicle is sold and will halt production of the SUV for nine days beginning April 16 to prevent inventory levels from building up. Toyota drew praise from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for taking "the proactive step" of offering owners of the luxury SUV a borrowed car until the problem is fixed. "That is the kind of response we hope every automaker would take," NHSTA administrator David Strickland said at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress meeting in Detroit. Strickland said his staffers have noted that Toyota "has definitely been more responsive" since January, when he took over leadership at the federal safety agency. Toyota will conduct tests on its Rav4, Highlander, 4 Runner, Sequoia, Land Cruiser and FJ cruiser models, as well as the Lexus LX and the Lexus RX. None of those models has shown rollover risk. NHTSA Thursday said it will conduct its own tests on the Lexus GX 460. Strickland said Consumer Reports had given the agency a preliminary report before its public announcement Tuesday that the vehicle would get a rare "don't buy" rating slapped on it.