Japanese car-manufacturer Toyota has launched a dedicated micro-site to provide customers with information on the back of a series of recalls due to faulty accelerator pedals.

Following the release of specific details surrounding several crashes and deaths linked to the problem, the site has been set up to provide details about the technical issues, as well as a customer relations helpline number for those concerned.

It seems that the brand is getting better at using the online space to say sorry as well, as Toyota’s US president Jim Lentz has also posted a video on the its website including an apology  for the situation. However, the serious nature of the recall is having a dramatic effect on global sales. Toyota is trying to limit the  slide, but some lawyers believe the accidents may have been caused by faults unrelated to either the floor mats or the pedal – the only two causes identified by Toyota – which becomes a much bigger issue potentially.

Toyota’s reputation has been burned in a much more superficial sense in the past, as late last year its Toyota Yaris ad called  ‘Clean Getaways’ had to be withdrawn from the brand’s Australian website following fierce criticism. The short, which won the online ‘Clever Film Competition’ organised by Toyota in conjunction Saatchi & Saatchi (as part of a live pitch for the Toyota account, that saw four other agencies run campaigns at the same time), showed a father and his daughter’s boyfriend talking in strangely-placed and rather crude double entendres.

Somewhere along the line, a jury (made up mainly of Saatchi employees) decided that the ad in question was the ‘best of the bunch’, and posted it as the winner on the brand’s Facebook Group. Unfortunately, as Toyota endorsed the clip in question, this not only reflects poorly on Saatchi’s social media credentials, but also the car-maker itself.

Now we see that the company’s car sales in the US fell by 16% year-on-year in January, as consumers switched to domestic manufacturers Ford and General Motors instead. This has been predicted to have continued and increased throughout February, with similar patterns applying to the brand’s reputation as the world’s highest-quality car maker as well.