Reuters/Tokyo
Japan’s Toyota Motor said yesterday it would recall a total 1.67mn vehicles globally in a voluntary move to address three separate defects including a faulty brake master cylinder that could hinder the brake’s performance.
Toyota said in an e-mail it was not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths resulting from the defects. Some 1.05mn vehicles will be recalled in Japan and 615,000 overseas, covering Toyota models Crown Majesta, Crown, Noah, Voxy, Corolla Rumion and Auris, as well as more than a dozen Lexus models.
Car makers have faced heightened global scrutiny on how quickly they share information with regulators and the public since a massive recall crisis in 2009 battered Toyota’s reputation and sales. Most vehicle recalls are issued on a voluntary rather than mandatory basis.
Toyota recalled 6.39mn vehicles globally in April in its second-largest recall announcement ever. Two months later, the company issued a recall of almost 2.3mn vehicles globally for faulty airbag inflators that have also plagued other car makers.
In the latest recall, about 802,000 Crown Majesta, Crown, Noah and Voxy models manufactured between June 2007 and June 2012 will be called back to replace a rubber seal ring in the brake master cylinder to prevent brake fluid from leaking. If brake fluid has already leaked, the brake booster will be replaced.
A second recall of about 759,000 vehicles globally, including 423,000 in the US, will fix faulty fuel delivery pipes that could, in the worst-case scenario, cause a fire through a fuel leak. Some of these vehicles are also subject to the first recall.
Toyota will also recall in Japan 190,000 front-wheel drive Corolla Rumion and Auris models built between October 2006 and October 2014 that are not equipped with an idling feature to fix a defective fuel evaporative emission control unit.
Shares in Toyota closed 0.2% higher in Tokyo at 5,990 yen after the recalls were announced, while the exchange’s Topix index gained 0.8%.