Toyota to Recall Lexus SUVs to Fix Floor Mats

By MIKE RAMSEY

DETROIT—Toyota Motor Corp. is expanding its recall of vehicles to fix a problem with floor mats that could lead to the accelerator pedal being entrapped, causing unintended acceleration.

U.S. regulators also may investigate whether Toyota waited too long to report the latest problems.

Toyota recalled 154,000 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450 H sport-utility vehicles for the 2010 model year at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA approached Toyota about a month ago "after the agency observed an increase in consumer complaints and other reports regarding pedal entrapment in these vehicles," the agency said.

Models in Trouble

Toyota has recalled millions of cars to fix electronic gas pedals that trigger inadvertent acceleration and millions more to replace floor mats that could get jammed against the gas pedal. See which models are affected.

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Toyota/Wieck

The recall is an expansion of one from 2009 that came after an off-duty California Highway Patrolman and three others were killed in a crash in which the accelerator pedal on a Lexus ES sedan was trapped by a floor mat. Toyota lost sales and market share in the months following its recalls and has struggled to regain its footing in the U.S. as competitors have grown stronger and it has had to deal with supply disruptions caused by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami last year.

In addition to a recall for sticky accelerator pedals, Toyota recalled more than 10 million vehicles globally for problems connected to unintended acceleration and was fined nearly $50 million for failing to report the problems in a timely manner. The Department of Transportation conducted additional studies into whether electronics failures may also have caused unintended acceleration and determined that they hadn't.

Toyota in June told regulators that it also had received "a significant volume of complaints on the same issue." The NHTSA said it is requesting additional documentation from the manufacturer and is considering opening an investigation into whether Toyota met its obligation to notify the agency and conduct a recall in a timely manner.

"In our view, the data available at that time did not seem to warrant inclusion of this model," said Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons. "If the NHTSA decides to open a timeliness investigation, Toyota will cooperate."

Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com