Toyota announces recall of 6.4m vehicles
The world’s largest carmaker, Toyota, is recalling 6.4m vehicles worldwide, owing to five separate issues, it said today.
The Japanese firm said the recalls involve 27 Toyota models, with 3.5m vehicles being recalled to replace a cable attached to the driver’s side airbag.
The driver’s airbag module in the involved vehicles is attached to a spiral cable assembly with electrical connections that could become damaged when the steering wheel is turned. If this occurs, the air bag warning lamp will illuminate. In addition, the driver’s air bag could become deactivated, causing it to not deploy in the event of a crash.
The steering column, seat rails, windscreen wipers and engine starters have also thrown up issues, prompting the recall.
Toyota says it is "not aware of any accidents, injuries or fatalities caused by these conditions." It has, however, has two reports of fires caused by the engine starter problem.
Over a third of the vehicles being recalled are in the US, with others in Japan, China and 810,000 in Europe.
The affected vehicles were produced between April 2004 and December 2010.
Shares shed over four per cent on the news.