Peugeot Citroen Recalls Autos Made With Toyota type pedals

PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-largest automaker, will recall more than 90,000 cars from among two models because they may share a gas-pedal flaw that prompted Toyota Motor Corp. to recall millions of vehicles.

The action affects about 10 percent of Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 models, or fewer than 100,000 vehicles, Jean-Marc Sarret, a spokesman for the Paris-based carmaker, said today in a telephone interview. The accelerator-pedal defect can cause crashes.

The vehicles were made at a plant in the Czech Republic where Toyota and Peugeot Citroen jointly manufacture small cars. The factory is managed by Toyota and produces about 330,000 cars a year, split between the 107, C1 and Toyota Aygo models, according to the joint venture’s Web site.

“We’ll have the same recall campaign as Toyota for the affected cars," Sarret said. “The faulty component isn’t used in all the vehicles. It represents about 10 percent of C1s and 107s in circulation."

Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million U.S.-built vehicles on Jan. 21 because the gas pedals may stick in the depressed position, causing vehicles to speed uncontrollably. As many as 1.8 million Toyotas will be recalled in Europe, the Japanese automaker said yesterday, and some cars will be recalled in China.

Sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles has been linked to 19 deaths in the past decade, Henry Waxman, chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement on the committee’s Web site. Two congressional committees have scheduled hearings on Toyota’s handling of the matter.