Toyota to recall vehicles

Toyota to recall vehicles

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's largest car maker, Toyota Motor Corp., has started recalling nearly 270,000 passenger cars and vans in Japan and other Asian countries due to defective automatic gear shift levers, the transport ministry said yesterday.

The ministry said Toyota would recall 257,336 units in Japan while it would recall 12,000 units sold in Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei, Macao, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

The planned recall will cover seven models, including the Corolla and Sprinter models, produced in Japan between April 1995 and May 1996, according to recall orders received by the ministry.

The ministry said the defect was in connection rods encased in the gear shift lever, which breaks easily and moves erratically.

A Toyota spokesman said: "We plan to send a recall notice to our clients in these Asian countries and regions where a recall system is not established. "