Hawaii's top-selling vehicle brand—Toyota—will take a huge hit with the manufacturer's decision to halt sales of eight popular models.

The sales suspension includes the following models: the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia. The decision yesterday follows on the heels of Toyota's recall of 2.3 million of those models to fix sticking gas pedals that could make the cars accelerate without warning.

Hawaii's Toyota dealers referred inquiries to Servco Pacific Inc., which owns dealerships and also, under its Toyota Hawaii subsidiary, distributes Toyota vehicles to all isle Toyota dealers.

Safety is “;of paramount concern to Toyota Hawaii,”; said Rick Ching, president of Servco Automotive, in a statement.

Toyota Hawaii is working with Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan and Toyota Motor Sales USA on the matter and encourages concerned customers to call 839-2273 with any questions, the statement said.

Local officials were not available to provide further details or statistics, such as the percentage of new Toyotas that would be removed from the sales inventory, how many recalled vehicles are presently cruising Hawaii's streets or whether any owners had reported problems with the accelerator pedals.

Toyota USA has said it was unaware of any accidents or injuries due to the pedal problems associated with the recall but could not rule them out for sure, according to an Associated Press report.

Toyota and its sister brand Scion garnered the largest market share in Hawaii with 27.6 percent of new vehicles registered during 2009, according to the most recent Hawaii Auto Outlook. The research is prepared by Pennsylvania-based Auto Outlook Inc. for the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association and does not provide a detailed breakdown of sales by model under each brand.

In 2009, 9,280 Toyotas and Scions were registered in the state, 43.7 percent more than Honda, the next highest-selling brand, with 5,229 vehicles registered.

The Toyota Tacoma, a small pickup truck, was the best-selling Toyota model in 2008 at Servco's Hawaii dealerships as well as at Maui Toyota, according to Pacific Business News' most recent Book of Lists.

The Tacoma was the top-rated compact truck by car-researching consumers as well as editors at Edmunds.com for 2009, its second consecutive year, while the Camry Hybrid was the favored hybrid, according to the site.

Edmunds' list of 50 most-researched vehicles included nine Toyota models, including four on the recall and sales suspension list.

Toyota said the sales suspension wouldn't affect Lexus or Scion vehicles. The Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser and select Camry models, including all Camry hybrids, also would remain for sale.

Toyota typically sells about 65,000 Camrys and Corollas nationwide each month, and the sales freeze is likely to strike the company's bottom line as well as its reputation for quality, according to Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst for IHS Global Insight, a Michigan-based consulting firm contacted by the Associated Press.

More than 34,000 Camrys were sold in December, making the midsize sedan America's best-selling car with 3.4 percent of the U.S. market. Its sales were up 38 percent from the previous year.

Sales of the Corolla and Matrix, a small sedan and a hatchback, totaled 34,220 last month, with 3.3 percent of the market and sales up nearly 55 percent from December 2008.

It was unclear how long Toyota would suspend production of the vehicles.

The recall and sales suspensions' impact on dealership employment is unclear.

The announcement follows a larger recall months earlier of 4.2 million vehicles because of problems with gas pedals becoming trapped under floor mats, causing sudden acceleration. That problem was the cause of several crashes, including some fatalities.

About 1.7 million vehicles fall under both recalls.