Vehicle recall: Corollas in India affected

Corolla sold in India will be affected by its global recall of 1.73 mn vehicles to rectify defective airbags

Japanese car giant Toyota on Thursday said a select lot of its premium sedan, Corolla, sold in India, will be affected by its global recall of 1.73 million  vehicles to rectify defective airbags.

The company, present in India through a joint venture with the Kirloskar group, said the recall will impact Corolla cars produced between January 2003 and June 2003 in the country.

"In line with the recall announced by Toyota Motor Corporation globally, Toyota Kirloskar Motor through its authorised dealers will contact the affected vehicle owners," a TKM spokesperson told PTI. He, however, said the company has not received any complaint yet regarding the problem of the Corolla. "TKM will conduct this campaign on a voluntary basis," the official said, adding it will be rectified free-of-cost.

When asked about the number of vehicles that will be recalled in India, the spokesperson said the company is yet to finalise the complete lot for this recall exercise.

"The Corolla models, which are included in this recall, were assembled in India in 2003 between January and June only," he added.

Elaborating the problem, the TKM spokesperson said the front passenger airbags could have been assembled with improperly manufactured inflator propellant wafers.

"Improperly manufactured propellant wafers could cause the inflator to rupture and the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally in a crash," he added.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is recalling a total of 17,30,000 vehicles across the world, comprising Corolla, Corolla Fielder, Tundra, Yaris, Camry, Avensis, Vios besides some other models.

Likewise, two other Japanese auto makers -- Honda and Nissan -- are making a global recall of their cars to fix airbag problem, which however, will not impact their models in India.

"India is not affected by the global recall of Honda," a Honda Cars India spokesperson said.

When asked if India is affected, a Nissan official also said: "No, none of the models sold or manufactured in India are part of this lot."