国际英语新闻：Toyota to temporarily stop selling Lexus GX460

LOS ANGELES, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Toyota said on Tuesday it will temporarily stop selling the Lexus GX460 after Consumer Reports said the SUV carried an unusually high risk of a rollover accident during certain types of turns, the New York Times reported.

In the latest blow to Toyota's reputation, the Japanese automaker said it will suspend sales of the SUV while it conducts its own testing.

Consumer Reports gave the GX460 a rare "Don't Buy: Safety Risk, " saying that in handling tests, the seven-seat SUV slid until it was nearly sideways before the electronic stability system regained control. The magazine said this could lead to a rollover accident in real-world driving.

Lexus GX series cars sit in the lot at a Lexus dealer in Los Angeles. Embattled Japanese automaker Toyota announced Tuesday it was temporarily suspending sales of the 2010 Lexus GX 460 after a respected US consumer magazine warned readers not to buy the SUV model.

The Japanese major auto manufacturer has sold about 5,000 GX460s in three months since it went on sale. It is not covered by Toyota's faulty gas-pedal recalls.

Toyota has recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally since November for problems including sticky gas pedal that causes sudden acceleration. Unintended acceleration in the company's Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been linked to at least five U.S. crash deaths since 2007. Forty-seven other fatalities over the past decade were also believed to have had link with the Japanese auto manufacturer.