World's largest automobile manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 2.9 million vehicles from across the world, including over a million from North America, following a fatal accident in Canada. The automaker said via an email on Thursday that they are recalling the cars, as the seat belts of these vehicles may possibly be damaged in the event of a crash, owing to a metal seat frame part.
Of the 2.9 million vehicles included in the recall, 1.3 million cars in North America, as may as 625,000 in Europe, 177,000 in Japan, 434,000 in China in addition to 307,000 vehicles in other countries globally. The recall involves two crossovers - the RAVA SUV model vehicles manufactured between July 2005 and August 2014, which was marketed across the globe, and the Vanguard SUV model manufactured between October 2005 and January 2016 and exclusively sold in Japan, reports Fortune, citing Reuters.
The statement issued by Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday clarified that, in the event of a frontal crash, the webbing of the lap-shoulder seat belt in the second-row outboard seats may possibly be cut by the metal frame of the seat. In such a situation, the seat belt could get detached, doing away with any protection to the passengers.
The automaker said that they will inform all the owners of the "defective" vehicles via snail mail. Toyota will install resin covers with a view to prevent the belt webbing from coming in contact with the seat's metal frame. The company claimed that while the seat belts are excellent, the problem may arise only if they contact the metal frame, CNet reported.
All information related to vehicle recalls are not limited to the list of involved vehicles mentioned above, but may change in due course, the company stated. It has advised the customers owing its Lexus, Toyota and Scion vehicles to visit http://www.toyota.com/recall and enter the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the latest update on Safety Recall information relayed to their vehicles. In addition, customers can send their queries regarding Safety Recall of their vehicles by visiting the NHTSA website (safercar.gov/vin).
This is not the first time that Toyota has undertaken recall of such a large number of cars globally for passenger safety-related reasons. Watch the video on Toyota recalls 6.5 million cars in 2015 for defects below: