Toyota will notify vehicle owners of the recall in mid-March
Japanese automaker Toyota begins this new year with a recall of 3.4 million of vehicles worldwide due to an electronic defect in the airbags.
This electronic defect can cause the airbags to not activate in accidents.
The massive recall affects 2.9 million vehicles in the United States, the cars affected are: Corolla 2011-2019, Matrix 2011-2013, Avalon 2012-2018 and Avalon Hybrid 2013-2018
This defect with the airbags is already linked to a report of a fatal accident.
The defect is because vehicles can have an electronic control unit that does not have adequate protection against electrical noise that can occur in crashes, this means that the bag may not be activated in the event of an accident.
This defect can also prevent the operation of seat belt pre-tensioners.
The NHTSA said in April that it had identified two frontal crash events, including a fatal crash “involving Toyota products that are suspected (electrical overload) as the probable cause” of air bags not being deployed. Both involved new Corolla cars.
These vehicles may be equipped with airbag control initially produced by TRW Automotive Holdings Corp, which is now owned by ZF Friedrichshafen.
The NHTSA explained that to this day, up to eight deaths could be related to the problem.
Other manufacturers such as Hyundai, Kia and Fiat Chrysler have already issued withdrawals for more than 2.5 million vehicles that have the same type of TRW airbags
Hyundai and Kia will have already recalled more than 1 million vehicles in 2018, due to problems similar to the deployment of airbags.
In the 2018 recall Hyundai and Kia reported four deaths and six injuries in the United States.
Toyota dealers will install a noise filter between the airbag control module and its cable harness if necessary.
Toyota will notify vehicle owners of the recall in mid-March.
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