Cars, Toyota Recall | featured news

Toyota dealers in five southeast states have pulled their commercials off ABC TV local affiliates, complaining about the coverage of Toyota safety problems by ABC News and its chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross.

The ad agency representing the 173 dealers told ABC affiliates last week that the shift was due to "excessive stories on the Toyota issues." The dealers shifted their commercial time buys to non-ABC stations in the same markets, "as punishment for the reporting," according to an ABC station manager.

Toyota Motor Corp. has been hit by over 100 complaints in the U.S. and Japan about brake problems with the popular Prius hybrid, the latest in a spate of quality troubles for the automaker as it grapples with massive global recalls.

Toyota is gearing up for a publicity offensive Monday morning, with a senior American executive going on television to discuss solutions to the company's recalls, as the Japanese auto maker seeks to allay consumer concerns over sudden acceleration.

The carmaker said up to 1.8 million cars in Europe could be affected and that it had identified a remedy.