California prosecutors sue Toyota

California prosecutors have filed the first U.S. consumer protection lawsuit against Toyota, claiming it engaged in "fraud" by hiding evidence of dangerous vehicle defects.

The District Attorney for Orange County, California, says his office along with private attorneys will sue the US sales arm of Toyota. They are charging that the world's top-selling automaker has endangered the public with defective vehicles, and engaged in deceptive business practices.

Tony Rackauckasm, Orange County Disrict Attorney, said, "These defects exist in hundreds of thousands of Toyotas sold to Californians over the last several years. Toyota has known about these defects but intentionally did not disclose them to California purchasers."

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles globally. The company says accelerator pedals on a range of its vehicles could become stuck because of a loose floor mat or a glitch in the pedal assembly.

Unintended acceleration in the company's Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been linked to at least five US crash deaths since 2007. Authorities are investigating reports alleging 47 other fatalities over the past decade.

All the bad press, however, hasn't affected sales at the Santa Monica Toyota dealership in California.