Toyota Announces Global Recall of 1.03M Cars over Fire Risk

Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor Corp. announced on Wednesday a global recall of more than a million vehicles, as the company tackles an electrical system issue that could start a vehicle fire.  

Toyota intends to recall about 1.03 million cars, including its gasoline-hybrid Prius model and C-HR compact crossover SUV, in Japan, North America, Europe, and other regions to repair a part of the engine wire harness that may pose a fire risk.

Affected vehicles will include the ones that have been manufactured between June 2015 and May 2018 in Japan like the Prius Prime plug-in hybrids and hybrid gas-electric versions of the C-HRs.

Spokesman for Toyota Jean-Yves Jault said about half of the recalls would take place in Japan, where 554,000 are set to be called back, adding that the Prius would be the only model that will be recalled in the US, where around 192,000 vehicles have been affected.

The rest of the affected vehicles were sold in Europe, Australia, and other countries. Affected owners in the US are expected to receive recall notifications via mail later this month.  

Shares of Toyota fell 1.2 percent to ¥120.44 on Wednesday.

Toyota Wiring Problem

A fire risk occurs when the wire harness in the vehicles come into contact with the covering at the connection point.

If dust builds up on the engine wire harness or the cover, insulation on the wires could weaken over time due to vehicle vibrations, potentially triggering an electrical short circuit which could produce enough heat to cause a fire.

News about the problem surfaced in September when a Toyota vehicle was reported to have been damaged by a fire caused by a short circuit. No one was injured in that incident, according Jault. The spokesman did not comment on whether there were other accidents or injuries linked with the issue.   

Toyota stated that it will fix the issue by replacing and putting a protective sleeve over the engine wire harness if the wire is exposed.

The recall is one of the largest for Toyota since recalling 2.9 million vehicles in March last year due to Takata Corp.’s faulty airbags.

The company has also recalled some 2.87 million cars including the Prius for leaky fuel tanks, and an additional 1.43 million which mostly included Prius vehicles for non-Takata airbags.

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