6.5 million cars recalled by Toyota for power window switch repair

A voluntary recall had been announced by Toyota Motors around the globe due to a defective power window switch that could overheat, melt and lead to fires.

According to Toyota, The recall includes 2.7 million vehicles in North America, 600,000 in Japan, and 1.2 million in Europe.  The cars involved are Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra and other models, as reported by NBC New York.

One incident that prompts the recall was an injury incurred a person in the U.S. whose hand was burnt due to the defect.  The Japanese automaker also received 11 case reports in which the switch or part of the car door burned.  There seven in North America, two in Japan, and two in other areas said Toyota on Wednesday.

The imperfection is due to the grease improperly sprayed during the manufacturing of electrical contact modules.  Debris or moisture could get inside the module that could cause a short circuit.

Toyota has pledged to be faster with recalls after the agony from a scandal that begun in 2009 which swell into a vast recall over different issues, including faulty floor mats, defective brakes and sticky gas pedals.  The scandal caused the car company fines imposed by U.S. authorities.

The involved vehicles were a manufactured from January 2005 to December 2010.  Particularly, the recalled cars were produced in Japan from January 2005 to August 2006 as well as from August 2008 to June 2010.  Other vehicles included in the recall were manufactured outside Japan from August 2005 to August 2006 and January 2009 to December 2010, the Tech Times reported.

In addition, Toyota annunciated a separate recall of around 140,000 Crown Majesta and Crown models in Japan.  This is because of a defect that caused the hood to open unintentionally.

The company will thoroughly examine every switch of affected vehicles and heat-resistant grease shall be applied.  This process of fixing will take about 45 minutes.  If in case the switch will still not function properly, the internal circuit board will be replaced.

Tokai Rika Co. was the supplier of the components in Toyota's recall, according to Kayo Doi, a spokeswoman for Toyota.  Tokai Rika will book a ¥14.5 billion ($121 million) charge due to a customer recall, based on the file with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as reported by Bloomberg.

The measure of the recall surpassed more than half a year of Toyota vehicle production.  The automaker claims unaware of any crashes caused by the flaw, which resulted from the inconsistent application of a sprayed-on grease to electrical contact points in the power switch.