Toyota Recalls 3.37M Vehicles Worldwide On Safety Issues

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) announced that it is recalling 3.37 million vehicles globally. These vehicles are being recalled either due to malfunctioning airbags or defects in their emissions control units.

Of the total vehicles being recalled, 2.87 million cars are suspected to have faulty emissions control units. Toyota stated that evaporative fuel emissions control units in the Prius, Auris compact hatchback and Corolla models produced over the period 2006−2015 may crack. This crack can expand, eventually causing fuel to leak.

A separate recall involves 1.43 million cars worldwide that have defective airbags. The vehicles recalled mainly include the Prius hybrid, Prius plug-in and the Lexus CT200h manufactured during Oct 2008 to Apr 2012. Of the total number of vehicles recalled, 743,000 vehicles are from Japan, 495,000 from North America and 141,000 vehicles from Europe, along with 9,000 vehicles from China and 46,000 vehicles from other regions.

According to Toyota, a small crack in some of the inflators in the airbags in the driver and passenger sides may expand. This may cause the airbags to partially inflate, thereby increasing the risk of injury. However, the automaker stated that these airbags were not supplied by Takata.

Toyota further confirmed that some of its gasoline-electric hybrid Prius models may have both the defects. Therefore, it increased the total number of vehicles covered under the recall from 2.87 million to 3.37 million. The company also confirmed that it has not received reports of any casualties related to either of the defects.

Toyota currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Stocks that Warrant a Look

Some better-ranked automobile stocks include Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI) , Spartan Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:SPAR) and Visteon Corporation (NYSE:VC) , all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free report >>