Toyota Motors’ venture into all-electric vehicles is off to a bad start. The automaker recalled 2,700 units of its bZ4X SUV model after discovering that some cars had a risk of their wheels coming off. As a result, Toyota’s stock lost 0.7 percent in value.
Subaru Corp., in which Toyota has a 20 percent stake, had it even worse after being forced to recall its first EV model Solterra. Around 2,600 Solterras, a model with many similarities with bZ4X, have been taken off the market. In the immediate aftermath, Subaru’s stock lost close to five percent of its value on Friday.
Detailing the issue with bZ4X, Toyota indicated that only a handful of units were affected by the issue. The problem, fortunately, didn’t cause any accidents, and the automaker is expecting to fix it in the near future.
Toyota was a pioneer in the electric car movement with its hybrid Prius model, but the company has struggled to make a mark on the EV market so far. The major issues for the company have been the global shortage of materials, which caused production delays, as well as slow urgency to put a bigger focus on all-electric cars. The recent recalls certainly don’t help, and it will be interesting to see how Toyota (and Subaru) bounce back after it.