TOKYO, June 29 (UPI) — Toyota Motor Corporation announced the worldwide recall Wednesday of 1.43 million vehicles for potential airbag problems.
The recall affects Toyota Prius and Lexus CT200h hybrid models made between 2010 and 2012.
Toyota said airbag inflators may have a crack in a weld which could cause airbags to suddenly inflate and rupture, especially in conditions of high humidity. It added metal shards could be propelled at drivers and passengers, but stressed the potential problem is a design, and not a manufacturing, issue.
The humidity factor was implicated in the largest recall in automotive history, beginning in 2013, when potentially defective airbags manufactured by Japan’s Takata Corporation prompted examination. Although suppliers’ identities are typically not revealed in recall announcements, Toyota said Wednesday the recall did not involve Takata products.
A second recall, also announced Wednesday, involves 2.87 million Toyota vehicles sold globally, and concerns cars’ evaporative fuel emissions control unit. Cracks in the mechanism could cause leaks when drivers fill their gas tanks. That recall includes Prius and Corolla models made between 2006 and 2015.
