Toyota to fix 1.53m cars worldwide

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) will repair about 1.53 million Avalon and other vehicles globally for problems with the brake master cylinder seal and fuel pump wiring, with most of those to be recalled in the United States and Japan.

The announcement comes less than two months after a recall of 1.3 million Corolla and Matrix cars in the United States and Canada carrying defective engine control modules that could cause the vehicles to stall.

Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, has already recalled more than 10 million vehicles in the past year, mostly for unintended acceleration, denting its reputation for quality and attracting intense scrutiny from U.S. safety regulators.

Toyota said in a filing with Japan’s transport ministry on Thursday that about 600,000 vehicles spanning 11 models including the high-end Crown sedan and Lexus IS and GS models were subject to the recalls, either for the faulty cylinder seal, the fuel pump wiring or both.

Toyota’s U.S. sales unit said separately it would recall 740,000 Avalon, Highlander, Lexus GS300, IS250 and IS350 cars to replace a brake master cylinder seal because there was a possibility that some brake fluid could leak from the cylinder, causing the brake warning lamp to light up.

Toyota will decide whether to file an official recall in other markets in line with safety regulations in each market, said Tokyo-based spokesman Paul Nolasco. The cars subject to the repairs are sold worldwide, including in Europe, China, South America, Africa and Oceania.

No accidents were reported from the two defects, Nolasco said. He said Toyota does not disclose estimates for recall costs, and had no comment on whether the repairs would have any impact on its earnings.

Toyota’s shares ended up 0.4 percent at 2,900 yen in Tokyo after the news, outperforming other Japanese automakers’ shares and the broader market.

Source: Reuters