Toyota recalls 1.5m cars worldwide

According to the BBC, “the carmaker said the decision affected certain Avalon, Highlander and Lexus cars, including 740,000 cars in the US, 600,000 in Japan.” It was also recalling 50,000 autos in Europe, 60,000 in China, 30,000 in Australia and 50,000 in other Asian nations, said a Toyota spokesman in Japan. It wants to ensure […]

According to the BBC, “the carmaker said the decision affected certain Avalon, Highlander and Lexus cars, including 740,000 cars in the US, 600,000 in Japan.”

It was also recalling 50,000 autos in Europe, 60,000 in China, 30,000 in Australia and 50,000 in other Asian nations, said a Toyota spokesman in Japan.

It wants to ensure that fluid does not leak from the brake master cylinder, causing the warning light to turn on.

The fault could cause the brake pedal to feel spongy and braking performance to “gradually decline”. Toyota says that if the brake warning light is triggered, drivers still have another 200 miles to drive to find help before the brake performance deteriorates. Toyota is not aware of any accidents because of the issue.

The announcement follows more than 10 million car recalls by Toyota already in the past year, including 1.1 million Corolla and Matrix cars in the US and Canada recalled in August because of potentially faulty engine control systems.

Toyota has now issued 14 recalls in 2010.

The carmaker was harshly criticised for not acting sooner over accelerator pedal recalls earlier this year, and was fined $16m by US authorities.

In Nigeria, sales have dropped due to the credit crunch, TNL claims. Since no accident has been recorded in relation to this recall issue, many may still keep their confidence in the products and dealers.