Toyota Pedal Maker Says Making Redesigned Pedals

The company that makes the gas pedal systems implicated in Toyota's big recall says it is working with the automaker on a fix.

CTS Corp. officials say they have ramped up production at three factories to manufacture redesigned pedals. The pedals are meant to solve problems with condensation that Toyota has said can cause them to react slowly when a driver presses on the gas. In rare cases, the gas pedals can get stuck.

CTS says it is also working with the Japanese automaker to find a potentially quicker repair for vehicles already on the road.

Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons says the automaker has not decided if the new pedals will go to dealers or factories.

He says the company has also not decided whether it will repair the defective pedals or replace them. Toyota engineers are working on ways to fix the pedals, he said.

Lyons says the company's No. 1 priority is figuring out how to repair the largest number of vehicles in the shortest amount of time.

Repairs to the pedals still have to go through the normal durability testing to make sure they work properly, Lyons said. He would not estimate how long it will take for Toyota to decide on repairing versus replacement, nor would he say how long it will be until cars and trucks are fixed.

Toyota officials were meeting Thursday with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to discuss a potential fix for the recalled vehicles.

Since the initial recall last October, the company has held discussions with the government over the accelerator problem, and NHTSA was expected to review a possible remedy for the latest recall.

Earlier this week, Toyota halted sales of eight models due to problems with the gas pedal system. That followed a recall last week of 2.3 million trucks and cars, including Camrys and Corollas.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects 3rd graf on CTS' plans for fixes to existing vehicles. ADDS comment from Toyota and NHTSA. Will be led.)