Lexus Stops Deliveries and May Recall HS 250h after NHTSA Tests Find that Rear-End Crash Leads to Excessive Fuel Spill


[Updated] Toyota has just issued an official release stating its intention to stop deliveries and conduct a voluntary safety recall of around 17,000 examples of the 2010MY Lexus HS 250h hybrids to address the NHTSA's concerns over the excessive amounts of gasoline that were leaked during a standard rear-end crash test performed by the safety agency.

The Japanese automaker said that during the Lexus HS 250h's development phase it had tested the hybrid car using the same protocol and found the vehicles to comply fully with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 301.

"Even though our own testing of the Lexus HS 250h shows full compliance with federal fuel system integrity standards, we are working intensely to duplicate the noncompliance issue that the NHTSA identified and to determine the reason behind the different test results," said Steve St. Angelo, Toyota chief quality officer for North America. Full press statement after the jump.

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