October 11, 2012
Toyota Motor Corp announced a massive recall on Wednesday to fix malfunctioning power window switches.
The Japanese automaker said it would pull back 7.43 million vehicles worldwide in the biggest single recall since 1996, performed by Ford Motor Co.
The recall will include 2.47 million vehicles in the United States, as well as 1.40 million vehicles in China and 1.39 million vehicles in Europe.
The vehicles recalled outside Japan include certain models of the Yaris, Vios, Corolla, Matrix, Auris, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia, xB and xD produced between 2005 and 2010.
In Japan, Toyota is recalling about 459,300 vehicles, including the Vitz, produced between 2006 and 2008.
The move comes a day after Toyota reported that its sales fell 48.9 percent year-on-year in China in September.
Paul Newton, auto analyst at IHS Global Insight, said the recall was damaging but not as bad as on previous occasions.
"Well, in terms of where it was with its previous recall where there were actually serious injuries and deaths associated with it this is really quite minor in terms that the risk is theoretical, it affects an awful lot of vehicles, but nobody has been hurt and there is no reported incidents of fires or anything else," he said.
The recall primarily affects cars in the United States, China and Europe, including some Yaris and Corolla models on which the power window switches can be repaired in about 40 minutes, the company said.
No accidents, injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of the problem, though there is a possibility that the malfunctioning switches could emit smoke.
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