Toyota Philippines recalls Innova, Fortuner, Hilux for airbag fault

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) has announced the recall of its best-selling Innova, Fortuner, and Hilux vehicles sold in the country from November 2004 to June 2010. The recall, aka “special service campaign” covers Fortuner, Hilux and Innova units sold during the period. TMPC cited a potential problem with the vehicles’ spiral cable.

“Due to the shape and location of the spiral cable retainers, this may cause some connectivity loss related to the air bag system. In such case, the driver side air bag may not deploy in the event of a crash. There are, however, no incidents reported related to this condition,” TMPC said in a statement.

Toyota said that authorized dealers would replace the affected units’ spiral cable assembly free of charge.

“Toyota Motor Philippines will notify all owners of the affected units advising them to set appointments with their respective dealerships,” it said, adding that customers with inquiries regarding the recall are advised to contact the Toyota Customer Assistance Center at (02) 819-2912 or visit the nearest dealership.

“We value our customers’ safety, thus our company decided to hold such campaign to ease their concerns on this issue,” TMPC first vice president for corporate affairs Rommel T. Gutierrez said. This special service campaign was part of the giant Japanese carmaker’s global recall of 6.39 million vehicles involving 26 models.

With report by Ben Arnold O. de Vera