Toyota to recall 2.9 mn vehicles over defective airbags

Tokyo: Japanese carmaker Toyota on Thursday issued a global recall of 2.9 million vehicles over a possible defect in their airbags, company officials said.

The move will affect around 750,000 vehicles sold in Japan, 650,000 in China, 350,000 in Europe, and 1,160,000 in other parts of the world. The vehicles include the RAV4, Yaris, Alphard/Vellfire and Auris models.

The fresh recall comes after consultations between Toyota and various national regulatory authorities, and the investigation carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the US, company officials told Efe news.

The recall order, however, will not affect the US, where over 42 million vehicles have already been recalled over the defective airbags.

The fault, detected in 2014, involves defective inflators in the airbags, which might prevent them from working properly in the event of a crash.

Faulty airbag inflators have been linked to at least 15 deaths throughout the world, 11 of them in the US.