Toyota recalls 7,500 cars in Europe

Toyota Motor Europe has announced a voluntary recall of around 7,500 Toyota Land Cruiser 150 Prado and Lexus GX 460 models in Europe.

The recall has been issued so that Toyota can carry out reprogramming of Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) software to improve vehicle responsiveness.

According to the Japanese car giant, the recalled vehicles are safe to drive under normal driving conditions although problems may arise on certain left-hand-drive vehicles equipped with the optional Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System.

The vehicles could slide out when the driver makes a sharp turn of the steering wheel at high speed, or when the driver negotiates a curve to the right at excessive speed. Toyota claims this is due to an insufficient activation of the VSC system.

The voluntary recall includes the Toyota Land Cruiser 150, available across Europe, and the Lexus GX 460, which is only available in certain eastern European markets. No other Toyota or Lexus vehicles are affected by this recall in Europe.

In separate news, Toyota says it has successfully processed 80 per cent of the UK cars that required adjustment to their accelerator pedal following a recall in February.