Toyota Accused of Threats

The importer of Yugo cars said today that it filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Toyota’s U.S. sales network, alleging threats against Toyota dealers who signed up to sell the low-priced Yugo.

Yugo America Inc. said it filed the federal lawsuit against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. of Torrance, Calif., Toyota Motor Distributors Inc. and Bob McCurry, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Sales. Since it began importing its celebrated $3,990 base-price Yugoslavian-made Yugo car to the United States last fall, Yugo has been signing up dealers who sell other types of cars rather than try to set up a costly independent dealer chain.