Toyota Issues Another Major Recall

VOA Breaking News
Voice of America
November 14, 2012 at 7:50 am (UTC-4)

Toyota is recalling more than 2.7 million vehicles worldwide because of steering and water pump problems. It is the second major recall in as many months for the world's largest automaker.

The Japanese auto giant said Wednesday no accidents have been reported because of the defects, which it says could be fixed in about one hour.

The problems affect 14 models, including the second generation of the popular Prius hybrid. The Corolla, Wish and other vehicles made between 2000 and 2011 could also have the issues.

About 1.5 million of the defective vehicles are in Japan. The rest are scattered overseas, including 670,000 in the U.S. and 496,000 in Europe.

It is the latest embarrassment for Toyota, which last month recalled 7.4 million vehicles because of a fire hazard caused by a faulty power window switch.

Toyota's reputation for quality took a hit following massive recalls between 2009 and 2011 because of defects causing unintended acceleration in some of its vehicles.