Toyota recalling 3.4 million cars over possible airbag malfunction

Toyota is recalling about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide over the suspected malfunctioning of airbags, the carmaker said on Wednesday.  

“The recall, including 2.9 million vehicles in the U.S., involves the Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Avalon, and Avalon HV models in North America, Central, and South America, Toyota said.

No cars are being recalled this time in Japan and Europe,” Toyota said.

The affected vehicles may have an electronic control unit which may not have adequate protection against certain “electrical noise” interference, a Toyota spokeswoman in Tokyo said

“This could lead to incomplete deployment or non-deployment of the airbags and also hamper the operation of seat belt pretensions,” she said.

 The pretension tightens and reduces slack in seat belts to protect occupants from rapidly moving forward in the event of a crash.

 For the involved vehicles, Toyota will install a noise filter between the airbag control module and its wire harness, it said.