Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling cars yet again, but this time, it's not due to faulty airbags but a software glitch.
On Wednesday, July 15, Toyota announced that it would be recalling nearly 625,000 Prius and other hybrid cars worldwide. The Japanese car maker will fix a software glitch that could potentially close the hybrid system of the vehicle when it is being driven.
"In limited instances, the hybrid system might shut down while the vehicle is being driven, resulting in the loss of power, bringing the vehicle to stop," revealed the company.
The company believes a particular software setting is responsible for potential overheating. This would in turn result in control being lost. The Toyota models affected by the software glitch include the Prius v minivans dubbed Prius+ and Prius alpha in a few markets, produced between May 2010 and November 2014. The recalled vehicles also include the Auris hybrid.
Of the vehicles affected by the issue, 120,000 are in North America, 160,000 in Europe and 340,000 in Toyota's home country, Japan. The issue has not caused any major damage. Toyota said no reports of injuries or car crashes owing to the problem have been made.
Earlier in March, Toyota recalled nearly 112,500 Camry and Highlander units, along with their hybrid variants, and the RAV4 SUVs (model years 2014 and 2015) because of power steering and software problems.
Toyota has been plagued with problems. It had to issue a global recall of 2.86 million cars spanning 24 models produced from April 2003 to December 2008 due to safety concerns over airbags made by Takata.
Photo: Daniel | Flickr
