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JAPAN-AUTOMOBILE-TOYOTA-RECALL-LEAD
Toyota announces new recall of 2.4 million hybrid cars
TOKYO, Oct 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Japanese car giant Toyota said Friday it is
recalling more than 2.4 million hybrid cars over a fault that could cause
crashes, just a month after another recall affecting hybrids.
The firm in September said it was recalling more than one million hybrid
cars globally after uncovering a technical problem that could cause fires.
The latest announcement affects several models of the Prius and its Auris
hybrid vehicles produced between October 2008 and November 2014, with more
than a million of the affected cars in Japan.
Another 830,000 are in North America, 290,000 in Europe, 3,000 in China,
and the rest in other parts of the world.
In a statement, Toyota said the cars had already been involved in previous
recalls in 2014 and 2015, but “the remedy conducted then did not anticipate
the new condition identified in this recall”.
The problem identified arises when the cars fail to enter “failsafe
driving mode as intended”.
“If this occurs, the vehicle could lose power and stall. While power
steering and braking would remain operational, a vehicle stall while driving
at higher speeds could increase the risk of a crash,” Toyota said.
Japan’s transportation ministry said Toyota had reported three
malfunctions locally related to the issue, but no accidents.
The car giant last month issued a recall for 1.03 million cars globally
over an issue related to wiring that could cause fires in vehicles.
“We can’t assess the impact of the recall immediately as we first need to
analyse details of the problem, but the latest recall at least raised
concerns as Prius is Toyota’s leading brand,” said Satoru Takada, an analyst
at TIW, a Tokyo-based research and consulting firm.
But the news had little impact on Toyota shares, which ended marginally
lower.
Toyota has sold more than 12 million hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles
globally, including the Prius, since 1997.
In 2016, it announced the recall of 3.37 million vehicles globally over
problems with airbags and a fuel emission control unit.
BSS/AFP/HR/1400