Looking for a fix for the niggling accelerator pedals problem, Toyota Motor has, for the time being, suspended the sales of eight of its most popular models in the US - including the best-selling Camry, which accounted for almost 58 percent of the automaker’s US sales last year.

The Japanese automaker’s decision to suspend US sales comes close on the heels of its recall of 2.3 million vehicles due to the nagging accelerator problem. The decision will stall the production of Toyota vehicles at six North American Toyota assembly plants from February 1 onwards till resumption of production is announced.

Going by the information forwarded by an unnamed Toyota official, the accelerator pedal problem mostly pertains to one particular US parts supplier and does not affect models using parts from other suppliers.

Nonetheless, the scale of the sales suspension move by Toyota is an unprecedented one in the auto industry; and was announced late Tuesday, along with the explanation that the company intends to fix the gas pedal problem that could stick and cause unwarranted acceleration.

Noting that the accelerator pedal problem has greatly tarnished the automaker’s brand image, Yasuaki Iwamoto, auto analyst with the Tokyo-based Okasan Securities, remarked that the sales suspension decision of the company can be termed as “an abnormal situation, and there is no way to compare it with anything else.”