TOKYO — Toyota Motor issued a recall Wednesday of all of the 1.9 million newest-generation Prius vehicles it has sold worldwide because of a programming glitch that could cause their gas-electric hybrid systems to shut down.
Roughly half of the recalled Priuses are in Japan, while 713,000 are in North America and 130,000 are in Europe, according to Brian Lyons, a Toyota spokesman in Tokyo. He said the company was not aware of any accidents linked to the defect. The Prius is made only in Japan.
Quality issues continue to dog Toyota, the world’s best-selling automaker, as it seeks to restore its reputation following large-scale recalls five years ago over reports of unintended acceleration. Late last month, Toyota halted the sale of several popular models, including the Camry and Corolla, after it found that padding on the cars’ seat heaters did not meet flammability standards.
Such actions point to a new wariness at the automaker over being drawn into lawsuits from customers or quarrels with auto regulators. The automaker, based in Toyota City, Japan, has been hit with hefty fines in the United States and has paid billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over its handling of recalls that affected more than 10 million vehicles in 2009 and 2010.
Since then, Toyota has been more proactive in issuing recalls, for even minor problems. For two years running, Toyota has called back more than 5 million vehicles annually in the United States, more than any other automaker, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The size of recalls among all manufacturers has grown in recent years as automakers use increasingly standardized parts across their models to slash costs; when one part is found to be defective, more vehicles are affected.
In the Toyota recall announced Wednesday, problems in software settings on its newest Prius model generation — which first went on sale in 2009 — could stress and damage transistors in the hybrid systems, the company said. The problems could set off warning lights and prompt the vehicle to power down as part of a fail-safe mode, according to a news release.
“In rare circumstances, the hybrid system might shut down while the vehicle is being driven, resulting in the loss of power and the vehicle coming to a stop,” the release said.
Toyota issued a separate recall in the United States of approximately 260,000 RAV4 crossovers, Lexus sport utility vehicles and Tacoma pickup trucks. The automaker said a bug in their electronic circuits could cause advanced systems, including stability control and anti-lock braking, to intermittently switch off. The problem does not affect the vehicles’ standard braking systems.
In Tokyo, investors appeared unfazed by the recalls. Shares in the automaker finished 0.43 percent higher following the announcement, in line with the benchmark Nikkei 225-share index.
via:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/business/international/toyota-issues-another-recall-for-hybrids-this-time-over-software-glitch.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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