Toyota to recall 45,000 Innovas

The recall is part of the global recall of 6.58 million vehicles to fix a fault in steering wheel

Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Wednesday said it was recalling 44,989 units of the multi-utility Innova, manufactured between February 2005 and December 2008. The company is an 89:11 per cent joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp of Japan and Kirloskar Group.

According to a statement, the recall has been mandated due to an error in the spiral cable mounted on the steering wheel. This (error) will lead to continuous illumination of an airbag warning lamp on the instrument cluster giving prior indication of a problem to customers. In addition, the driver’s airbag might get deactivated, the statement added.

“Toyota is currently working on obtaining the necessary replacement parts. Once the replacement parts are available, authorised Toyota dealers will contact customers. The vehicle will then be repaired free of cost. The repairs are expected to be carried out in around an hour’s time,” statement said.

The recall is a part of a global exercise as the company plans to fix 6.58 million vehicles around the world, which may suffer from faults in steering and seats. This is its second largest vehicle recall to date in its history.

However, Toyota has not said how much the recall would cost. It was also not clear as to whether the faults emerged from its suppliers or its manufacturing process.