Major Toyota recall blamed on floor mats

WASHINGTON -- Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will recall 3.8 million vehicles in the United States, the company's largest-ever U.S. recall, to address problems with a removable floor mat that could cause accelerators to get stuck and lead to a crash.

Toyota said it was still working with officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find a remedy to fix the problem and said owners could be notified about the recall as early as next week. Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said until the company finds a fix, owners should take out the floor mat on the driver's side and not replace it.

The government also warned owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles about safety problems tied to the floor mats. The recall will affect 2007-10 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-10 Toyota Avalon, 2004-09 Toyota Prius, 2005-10 Tacoma, 2007-10 Toyota Tundra, 2007-10 Lexus ES350 and 2006-10 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

Consumer confidence unexpectedly declines

NEW YORK -- Concerns that consumers won't help drive a speedy and strong economic recovery only escalated Tuesday after an influential barometer of confidence fell unexpectedly in September.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said its confidence index dipped to 53.1, down from a revised 54.5 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a reading of 57.

The report followed rosier data on housing released Tuesday that showed home prices rose for the third month in a row in July.

In other news

Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. said prescription drug sales rose in the fiscal fourth quarter, pushing results past Wall Street expectations and lifting shares to an annual high. For the quarter ended Aug. 31, profit fell 2 percent, to $436 million, or 44 cents per share, down from profit of $443 million, or 45 cents per share, a year before.