Tokyo/Johannesburg - Toyota has announced that it will recall 6.39 million vehicles across the globe for faults affecting various parts ranging from steering to seats in the company's second-largest recall to date.
Toyota said it was not aware of any crashes or injuries caused by the glitches, which were found in 27 Toyota models.
It did not say now much the recall would cost and it was not clear if the faults stemmed from Toyota's suppliers or its manufacturing process. “We sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience and concern brought by this recall announcement,” Toyota added in a statement.
VEHICLES AFFECTED
Toyota said some 3.5 million vehicles, globally, were being recalled to replace a spiral cable that could be damaged when the steering wheel is turned, causing the airbag to fail to deploy during a crash.
In South Africa, this campaign affects pre-facelift Hilux, Fortuner and Innova models and Toyota SA will replace the spiral cable.
The other big recall includes previous-generation Yaris models, in which the seat rails could cause the seat to slide forward during an accident. In this instance, the spring mechanism will be replaced.
Toyota SA's Leo Kok said: “Concerned customers are welcome to leave their contract details with their nearest dealer and we will contact them once we have all the necessary parts. The parts are being imported via air freight.”
Kok added that this is a pre-emptive campaign and in Toyota SA's case is not a response to issues recorded locally.
The other global recalls are for faulty steering column brackets, windshield wiper motors and engine starters, although no South African vehicles are known to be affected in these cases.
LARGE SCALE RECALLS
The 6.39 million vehicle recall is the largest announced on a single day for Toyota since October 2012, when it called back 7.43 million Yaris, Corolla and other models to fix faulty power window switches.
Large scale recalls have become more common in recent years as carmakers move to fix defects promptly.
This latest one also comes as rival GM is under investigation for failing for years to act on a known ignition switch defect linked to a dozen deaths. The company has recalled 1.6 million vehicles over the issue.
IOL & Reuters