The recall saga continues for Toyota, the company having announced another global recall that affects 1.3 million vehicles. It relates to airbag and windscreen wiper problems.
Toyota will replace airbag parts in some 907 000 hatchbacks in Canada, Japan, Mexico and the United States, a company spokesman said. The models are branded Voltz in Japan and Corolla and Corolla Matrix overseas.
The vehicles in question were produced between 2001 and 2004 in Canada, Japan and the United States; no South African vehicles are involved in the recall.
In the faulty vehicles, the control unit of the airbags could be damaged by minor electrical noise, and the airbag could open wrongly in a worst-case scenario, the spokesman said.
At least 47 cases of the malfunction had been reported, mainly in the United States.
“Two of them may be linked to accidents but there has been no death-related report,” the spokesman said, adding that Toyota would exchange the troubled parts under each country's recall guidelines.
LEXUS WIPER RECALL
Toyota separately said it would recall some 385 000 Lexus IS cars globally to change windscreen wiper parts, following problems in snow.
Once lauded for its safety standards, Toyota has been forced into damage control mode in recent years after recalling millions of vehicles due to a series of serious defects.
Last month the company said it had agreed to pay about $1.1 billion (R9.9 billion) to settle a class action lawsuit launched by US vehicle owners affected by a series of mass recalls.
BUT STILL ON TOP
But on the upside, the carmaker did recapture the title of world's biggest car company from General Motors in 2012. On Monday it said its global sales last year soared 22.6 percent to 9.75 million vehicles. -AFP and IOL