Toyota stung by possible Prius headlight defect?

We'd wager that the last thing Toyota wants in the midst of the super-important launch of its new third-generation Prius is a negative stigma attached to the previous model. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the Japanese automaker may have on its hands as a number of owners of the 2005-2008 Toyota Prius with the HID headlight option are banding together on online forums, message boards and in possible class action lawsuits against the automaker in relation to failing headlamps.

According to Advertising Age, these HID headlight bulbs and their associated electronics can sometimes cost well over $1,000 to replace after they've gone faulty, and Toyota is unwilling to pick up the tab. At least one lawsuit has reportedly been filed last month by Girard Gibbs in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of a Putnam County, N.Y., Prius owner. The suit contends that the problem is a "dangerous but undisclosed safety defect" and alleges that "Toyota is concealing the problems from owners" despite having been "long been aware of Prius' HID headlight problem." It's possible that the suit will get class-action status.
The NHTSA has reportedly filed a preliminary investigation into the issue and contacted Toyota on May 13 regarding 338 complaints it has received so far from Prius owners about the HID headlamps. Spokesmen from Toyota have said the automaker is cooperating with the NHTSA investigation, which may or may not end up calling for an official recall.

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., stung by General Motors Corp.’s plan to abandon their shared California auto- assembly plant, may seek federal aid to preserve the factory, said a U.S. lawmaker.

GM on June 29 said it’s pulling out of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., also known as Nummi, the Fremont, California plant it’s run as a joint venture with Toyota for a quarter century.

“A high ranking Toyota executive told me today that all options to continue without GM are being considered,” said Representative Pete Stark, in a statement late yesterday. “U.S. government assistance, the economy, the U.S. auto market and alternative U.S. plant locations are under review.”

Stark, who represents the San Francisco Bay district where the factory is located, didn’t identify the Toyota official. Lance Tomasu, a spokesman for Nummi, said he was unaware of efforts to get financial aid for the plant.

The dissolution of the venture, Toyota’s first U.S. auto- assembly plant, compounds the Toyota City, Japan-based company’s challenges as it works to reverse last year’s record 436.9 billion yen ($4.6 billion) loss and plunging U.S. sales. Toyota hasn’t sought U.S. aid, including from the Energy Department’s low-interest loan program that last week awarded $1.6 billion to Nissan Motor Co.

“We haven’t yet decided any plans at the factory,” Hideaki Homma, a Tokyo-based spokesman, said yesterday. He wasn’t immediately available to comment on Stark’s statement.

Nummi has capacity to make 420,000 cars and trucks a year about 5,000 workers, according to the plant’s Web site. GM last month said it would eliminate the Pontiac Vibe hatchback, its only model built at Nummi, in August. The plant also makes Toyota Corolla small cars and Tacoma pickups.

Stark said the factory ‘is the largest manufacturing plant” in his district. “Any action affecting 5,000 employees and ancillary suppliers of parts and services would impact our economy,” he said.

Toyota fell 40 yen, or 1.1 percent, to 3,630 yen in Tokyo trading. The shares have gained 25 percent this year. Stark’s comments were reported earlier in the San Jose Mercury News.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Tokyo at aohnsman@bloomberg.net