Tokyo - Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has added 650,000 cars - all in Japan - to the recall it issued last year over a defect in passenger airbags. That takes the number of cars recalled over the issue to 2.79 million. The affected vehicles have a defective part which "could cause the airbag inflator to rupture and deploy the airbag abnormally in a crash". Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, said it had received one report of a seat cover burn due to the issue. It added that it was also modifying the remedy that it was using to address the issue.
Toyota said that it had so far been replacing the part in the affected vehicles based on the serial number provided by the parts maker, Takata Corp. However, it added, that the serial number in some of the cases was incomplete and had led to those cars not being serviced, despite receiving the initial recall notice. Toyota said it would now replace the inflator in "all involved vehicles", irrespective of the serial numbers. As a result, it said, it was re-notifying 350,000 owners globally to bring their cars back for servicing. "For vehicles which were inspected and did not receive a replacement inflator, we will re-notify the owners and replace the inflator with a new one," the firm said in a statement. Another 1.24 million owners - who had received the initial recall notice but did not bring their vehicles in - are also being sent a fresh notice. The vehicle models affected by the issues include Corolla, Camry Yaris and Vios. (FA)
