Toyota adds 356,000 vehicles to Takata air bag recalls

[DETROIT] Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it is globally expanding by 356,000 cars its recall involving potentially defective Takata Corp air bag parts.

US-registered vehicles account for 198,000 of the global recall total.

The new recall in the United States will include the 2008 Corolla models as well as 2008 to 2010 model years Lexus SC430 vehicles.

An estimated 29 million Takata air bag inflators have been recalled in the United States in more than 19 million vehicles because the inflators can activate with too much force, sending potentially deadly metal shards into the passenger compartment.

Toyota said the new recalls increased the number of Toyota vehicles with Takata air bags worldwide to 15,314,000, including 3,156,000 in the United States.

Reuters has reported that US auto safety regulators are examining whether an additional 70 million to 90 million Takata air bag inflators should be recalled.

Toyota did not immediately respond to queries regarding the names of the models recalled outside the United States.

REUTERS