Toyota expands airbag recall to Europe

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota is expanding a recall previously issued in North America to the rest of the world including Europe to replace potentially deadly passenger-side airbag inflators made by Takata Corp.

Toyota said it would recall another 2.86 million vehicles across 24 models produced between April 2003 and December 2008, including 1.729 million in Europe, 360,000 in Japan and 190,000 in China.

In Europe, the markets with the biggest recalls are the UK and Germany (see table below), a Toyota spokesman told Automotive News Europe.

Models subject to the European recall include the Yaris subcompact, Corolla compact and midsize Avensis, together with the Avensis Verso/Picnic minivan and Sequoia SUV. All the affected models were built between April 2003 and December 2008. A single Lexus model, the SC430 cabriolet, built in the same period is also affected, the spokesman said.

Toyota on June 16 recalled 1.37 million vehicles in the U.S. after Takata agreed to comply with an order by U.S. regulators to declare more inflators defective and expand the recalls.

Nissan also said it was calling back 198,000 vehicles globally including the Navara, Caravan and Teana built between April 2007 and December 2008, after a corresponding recall in the U.S. and Canada previously.

The cause of the potential defect in these recalls remains unknown. There have been no reports of accidents or injuries from the expanded recalls, both automakers said.