On April 17, Toyota Motor Corporation announced that it would suspend orders for the Prius for the time being in order to prepare countermeasures for the recall. File photo, taken in 2022 (2024 Reuters/Johanna Geron)
TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corporation (7203.T) New Tab, opens new tab on the 17th recalled a total of 135,305 Prius vehicles due to a problem with the switch that opens the rear seat door. ) to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The recent suspension of operation at the Tsutsumi Plant (Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture) on the first line is said to be due to quality confirmation work due to this problem. The company announced that it will continue to suspend production of the Prius for the time being, as it will take time to prepare for production of recall-prepared products, and will also stop accepting orders.
Operations at the Tsutsumi Plant’s first line had been suspended since the 4th, but a Toyota spokesperson only explained the reason for the suspension as “to confirm the production process.” Production of the Corolla, which is co-produced with the Prius on the same line, will resume production on the 18th. The number of units affected to date due to the suspension of operations has not been disclosed.
The recall applies to Priuses produced between November 2022 and April 2024. If the switch’s waterproof performance is insufficient, and a large amount of water is splashed on it during a car wash, it may get inside the switch and short-circuit the switch, and in the worst case scenario, the door may open while the vehicle is in motion. There have been three reports of defects so far. Corrective action is to replace the switch.
This defect was due to a quality defect in the design, and Toyota announced on the 17th that Tokai Rika (6995.T), which manufactures the rear seat door switch for the Prius, had filed a recall. Tokai Rika has estimated the cost of this issue to be 11 billion yen. The impact of the recall will be reflected in business results as an operating expense for the fiscal year ending March 2024 as a post-adjustment event.
Maki Shiraki, Shinichi Uchida Editing: Shiho Tanaka
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