Johannesburg - The world's largest car maker, Toyota, this week extended the recall of millions of its vehicles to South Africa and the rest of Africa, the Middle East and Latin America in a move meant to restore consumer confidence after an accelerator pedal fault was spotted in the United States.
The recall, sparked by an accelerator pedal problem, started in the US and moved to Europe and China last week, raising questions about the trustworthiness of the brand traditionally associated with safety and reliability.
As many as 8,1 million vehicles are affected by the recall.
It was unclear exactly which vehicles were faulty in SA, but Business Day quoted Toyota SA spokesman Leo Kok as saying the group was investigating which models could be affected locally, and would be able to say so some time this week.
"Given this development, some vehicles sold by Toyota SA Motors may possibly be involved in the expanded recall," Kop said, adding their technical team was busy with the investigation.
The company is trying to restore consumer confidence after halting sales and production in several countries.
But the sudden turn of events is starting to take a toll on sales, and may force the car maker to cut this year's sales forecasts.
Toyota SA manufactures and exports Corollas to Europe.
Kok said if they were involved in the recall, it would be a case of acting before the problems started.
Toyota SA exported 562 Corollas to Europe last month.
It sold 120 RAV4s and 1840 Corolla Versos and Auris in SA.
The recall of Toyota vehicles in the US last week related to the upgrade of the accelerator pedal mechanism, which the company says might in rare circumstances be harder to depress, slow to return to the idle position or remain open in a partially depressed position.
In the Middle East, the group identified 40 000 Avalon sedans made between 2005 and this year and Sequoia sport utility vehicles made last year and this year with the problem pedal.
In Africa, 80 000 vehicles, and in Latin America 60 000 vehicles are affected.
The 8,1 million is roughly equivalent to the group's global sales last year.
There are two sets of problems. At least 5,75 million vehicles were recalled to fix a problem in which floor mats could work loose and trap the accelerator pedal.
Faulty accelerator pedals are another problem being attended to and involving 4,45 million cars globally. Of the cars being recalled, about 2,1 million vehicles are involved in both recalls.
Vehicles affected in the US include the RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Tundra and Sequoia. Those affected in Europe included the RAV4, AYGO, iQ, Yaris, Auris, Corolla, Verso and Avensis.
US Toyota car sales figures for last month are expected to show a sharp drop after it pulled eight of its most popular models from showrooms.
"The sales forecast is something that we're extremely worried about," executive vice- president Shinichi Sasaki said at a news conference on Tuesday. Last month Toyota forecast global sales would rise six percent this year but it has since said that did not take the recalls into account. Spokesman for the Japanese group John Hanson said pedal assemblies in recalled models were said to have a gap the steel plate was designed to fill.
