Toyota Faces Another Recall and a Production Disruption

By Trey Thoelcke Published Feb 17, 11:20AM EST

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Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) has experienced something of a double whammy Monday: its second recall in a week and a weather-related disruption of production.

The Japanese automaker said Monday it is recalling 13,000 FJ Cruiser sport-utility vehicles because of fuel tubes that may overheat, melt and result in a gas leak. Five fires related to the defect have been reported. But there have been no reports of injuries or deaths.

The recall announced covers FJ Cruisers manufactured from October 2012 to January 2014. More than 10,000 of the affected vehicles are in the Middle East, 2,500 in Australia and the rest in Africa and Panama.

Last week the company recalled 1.9 million Prius cars globally for a software problem and 294,000 RAV4 sport utility, Tacoma pickup and Lexus RX 350 vehicles for a different software glitch.

Meanwhile back at home, Tokyo and other parts of eastern Japan were socked with heavy snow over the weekend that disrupted the supply chains of Toyota, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) and Suzuki, and also prevented workers from commuting. It was the second major storm this month.

Toyota suspended operations at four plants near its headquarters in central Japan. They included the Tsutsumi plant, where the Prius and Camry are made; the Tahara plant, which makes the Lexus LS; and the Takaoka plant, which builds Corollas. The Tahara and Takaoka plants are expected to resume operations on Tuesday.

In New York trading, Toyota shares retreated less than two percent in the past week and closed Friday at $115.17. The 52-week range is $99.34 to $134.94.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.