Toyota Recalls Nearly 3 Million Vehicles for Defective Seatbelts

VOA News
18 February 2016

Japanese-based Toyota Motor Corporation has issued a worldwide recall of 2.87 million sport utility vehicles due to faulty rear seatbelts.

The recall involves Toyota's popular RAV4 and RAV4 electric models produced between 2005 and 2014, and its Vanguard SUV model, made between 2005 and 2016. A spokesman for the world's number one automaker says it has learned the seatbelts came apart in two separate crashes in the United States and Canada. The company has not determined if any injuries or fatalities were linked to the problem.

Toyota will add a cover to the metal seat cushion frame to prevent it from cutting through the belt. The majority of the recalled vehicles, 1.3 million, are in North America.

Toyota is already involved in a number of safety recalls, including the recall of millions of vehicles sold by many automakers that were installed with defective airbags made by Japanese manufacturer Takata Corporation.