Toyota Recall Affects Over Six Million Vehicles Worldwide For Five Different Defects
Toyota Motor Company (TM-NYSE) has issued a massive recall that affects about 6.7 million vehicles worldwide (approximately 2.34 million in North America) for five different defects.
The recall involves several popular Toyota models including the RAV4, Corolla, Matrix/ Vibe, Trezia/Viz, Yaris, Highlander, Tacoma, and Hilux pickups, Reiz, Fortuner, Innova, Land Cruiser Prado, and Camry, with some vehicles dating as far back as 2004.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Japanese manufacturer said it will inspect and replace the defective parts when necessary.
A list of the defects in the Toyota vehicles impacted by the recall is as follows, according to the Automotive News of Tokyo via USA Today:
- Cables for the driver air bag module that can be damaged, disabling the bag, though a warning light will come on (3.5 million vehicles, 1.67 million in the U.S.).
- Seats that don’t lock in place (2.32 million, 670,000 in North America)
- Steering column brackets that may become loose or fail (760,000, Europe and Asia only)
- Windshield wiper motor (160,000, Asia only)
- Starter motor fire hazard (20,000, Asia only)
“Toyota is not aware of any crashes, injuries or fatalities caused by these conditions,” a company spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Japanese manufacturer is the world’s largest automaker and sold nearly 10 million cars in 2013. However, this is the second major worldwide recall in 2014.
Toyota shares fell 4.9 percent, prior to closing down three percent in Tokyo Wednesday. The company’s stock has fallen 15 percent in all for 2014.
Previously, Toyota announced a recall for over two million cars including the Prius, RAV4, Tacoma, and Lexus models because of a software problem that could cause the engine to stall suddenly.
In early 2014, Toyota had to pay a $2.1 billion fine — on top of $2 billion in repair costs — related to the settlement of a criminal probe for a recall that affected ten million vehicles, which had acceleration problems due to sticky pedals in 2009 and 2010, and resulted in five deaths.
In 2012, Toyota issued a recall for over seven million vehicles with faulty power windows which could have posed a fire hazard.
The Toyota recall follows another massive recall by General Motors (GM) earlier this year for a problem with ignition switches, which was allegedly concealed by the company since 2004.
The American manufacturer only acknowledged the problem last month. The faulty ignition switches have resulted in at least 13 deaths, according the GM, however, advocacy groups say the number is in the hundreds.
Toyota’s boss Akio Toyoda had promised to reform the company’s quality control following the sticky pedals recall, which was widely publicized in the media.
[Image via Bing]
