Toyota is recalling more than 2.4 million cars worldwide - and over 1200 in Ireland - because of concerns they could lose power. The cars affected are Prius, Prius + and Auris hybrid models made between 2008 and 2014.
It affects about 1.25 million vehicles sold in Japan, 830,000 vehicles in North America, and 290,000 vehicles sold in Europe. Some of the cars had already been recalled in 2014 and 2015 in connection with other issues, such as airbags and seats that could move in a crash.
In a statement, Toyota said that in "rare situations", some vehicles could fail to switch to a "failsafe" driving mode in the event of a fault with the hybrid system, which can lead to a loss of power and result in stalling. The "failsafe" system is designed to detect faults and then minimise injury to occupants or damage to the car.
The company said that it was not aware of any crashes due to the issue in Japan. However, it added that a vehicle stalling at higher could increase the risk of a crash.
Two versions of the Prius are affected and so too is the Auris.
Toyota Ireland says the recall involves certain Toyota Prius, Prius+ and Auris hybrid vehicles and their "failsafe" driving mode. A total of 1,289 in Ireland are involved.
The company says vehicles are designed to enter a "failsafe" driving mode in response to certain hybrid system faults. "
"Toyota has found that in rare situations, the subject vehicles may not enter a failsafe driving mode as intended. If this occurs, the vehicle could lose power and stall. Power steering and braking remain operational.
This recall provides a remedy to address a new condition in the vehicles involved in the previous recalls announced in February 2014 and July 2015. The remedy conducted then did not anticipate the new condition identified in this recall", a statement said.
There are no reported incidents in Ireland. Owners are being contacted directly and software updates will be provided free of charge by dealers.
For all involved vehicles, Toyota dealers will update the software at no cost.
Steve Tormey, Chief Executive of Toyota Ireland said Toyota was committed to "ensuring the highest standards of safety for our customers above all else. We are dedicated to taking swift and appropriate action where necessary and seek to be completely transparent with our customers".
In 2014 Toyota announced a wide-ranging recall of nearly 6.4 million vehicles worldwide for problems with air bags that might not deploy or seats that could move in a crash.
The announcement, covering many models and years going back as far as 2006, is a sign of a more aggressive approach to recalls at Toyota, analysts said. Last month, the Justice Department ended a four-year investigation of the automaker, imposing a $1.2 billion criminal penalty after finding that the company concealed information about defects that caused sudden, unintended acceleration in several models.
"They’re making a very bold statement that they’re going to stay on top of those recalls, no matter what the impact," Alec Gutierrez, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book told Reuters at the time. "Toyota took this opportunity to say ‘We are going to go through the list of all the known problems, and issue as many recalls as necessary.’ "
In 2015, Toyota had to recall 6.5 million vehicles globally over a faulty window switch that was liable to short-circuit.
