Toyota has agreed to pay compensation to drivers of the RAV4 model recalled in China, a Chinese provincial government said on March 29.
"Toyota has agreed to pay compensation to RAV4 consumers," the Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce, in eastern China, said on its website.
The announcement called it the first such compensation offer in China but did not specify an amount or say if it only applied to customers in Zhejiang province.
Toyota declined to confirm the announcement.
"The company is in the middle of discussions with parties concerned and cannot confirm the report," said Toyota spokeswoman Mieko Furuya.
Toyota recalled more than 75,000 RAV4 sport utility vehicles made in China due to faulty accelerator pedals. It was part of a global recall of more than eight million vehicles.
Toyota representatives made the promise after meeting with government officials on March 29, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The automaker agreed to step up recalls, offer substitute vehicles to affected customers, and return purchase deposits, the report said.
Early this month Toyota president Akio Toyoda visited Beijing to personally apologize to consumers in China.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
