Toyota is recalling 1.43 million vehicles globally for defective airbags, although it is not part of the massive recalls of Takata airbags, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.
Toyota Motor Corp. said it does not know of any fatalities or injuries related to the latest recalls, but is calling in the cars out of precaution following the Takata-related deaths, AFP reported.
Being recalled are the Prius hybrid, Prius plug-in and the Lexus CT200h produced between October 2008 and April 2012—743,000 vehicles in Japan, 495,000 in North America and 141,000 vehicles in Europe, as well as 9,000 vehicles in China and 46,000 vehicles in other regions.
IrToya, the local representative for Toyota, has not commented on the current recall.
A small crack in some inflators in the airbags in the driver and passenger sides may expand, causing the airbags to partially inflate.
The announcement by Toyota means that overall the total number of recalls because of airbag worries likely now tallies more than 100 million globally.
Faulty airbags are responsible for 11 deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide. Three more deaths are under investigation in Malaysia.
