Toyota announces recalls for defective air bags, canisters

Toyota announced Wednesday it is recalling 1.43 million vehicles for defective air bags and another 2.87 million vehicles for faulty fuel emissions controls.

Toyota Motor Corp. said it has not received any reports of injuries or fatalities related to either recall. Some 932,000 vehicles are involved in both recalls, so the total number of affected vehicles is 3.37 million.

The first recall for defective air bags affects Prius hybrids, Prius plug-ins and Lexus CT200h vehicles produced between October 2008 and April 2012—743,000 vehicles in Japan, 495,000 in North America, 141,000 in Europe, 9,000 in China and 46,000 in other regions.

The faulty air bags are not related to recent massive recalls of Takata air bags that have ballooned to millions of vehicles and affected nearly all major automakers. In Wednesday's recall, Toyota said a small crack in some inflators in the air bags on the driver and passenger sides may expand, causing the air bags to partially inflate.

The air bag manufacturer, Autoliv Inc. based in Stockholm, Sweden, said it is cooperating fully with the recall. It said in seven incidents, side curtain air bags in Prius cars partially inflated without a deployment signal. All of the cars were parked at the time with no one in them and there were no reported injuries, Autoliv said.

The cause of the defect is still under investigation. Autoliv estimated the cost of the recall to it at $10 million to $40 million.

The second recall affects various Prius models, the Auris, Corolla, Zelas, Lucas and Lexus HS250h and CT200h produced from April 2006 through August 2015—1.55 million vehicles in Japan, 713,000 in Europe, 35,000 in China and 568,000 elsewhere, but none in North America.

Toyota said cracks can develop in the coating of emissions control parts called the canister, possibly leading to fuel leaks.

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