UPDATE: Toyota's sales and production recall was the result of the federal government stepping in and telling them they had to do so.

In a shocking move, Toyota has suspended the sale and production of eight models due to an unresolved mechanical flaw resulting in ongoing unintended-acceleration concerns. The company has previously issued two separate recalls because of the issue, affecting several million vehicles.

The list of models for which sales and production have been halted are as follows: Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Matrix, RAV4, Sequoia and Tundra. Those models reportedly account for about 65 percent of Toyota brand sales, and more than half of all sales for the parent company (which also includes brands such as Lexus and Scion).

The recall effort kicked off in September, with a recall of more than 4 million vehicles. The impetus was a fatal crash involving a Lexus ES350. At the time, Toyota said that the cause of the unintended acceleration was jammed floor mats. However, on Thursday, Toyota recalled an additional 2.3 million vehicles (many of them the same models involved in the original recall) due to a faulty accelerator component that, it said, may also cause the accelerator to stick.

The move will obviously have a large impact not only on the company's short-term bottom line, but on brand perception as well. Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has for years enjoyed a reputation for safety and reliability.

Further complicating the mystery as to the origins of the acceleration issue is the fact that many of the eight models are built in different factories, and on different platforms.

(Source: The Washington Post, Jalopnik.com.)