Toyota Motor Corp may recall up to 270,000 vehicles worldwide to fix an engine glitch, with Japan's Asahi newspaper reporting the move could cost the car maker up to 20 billion yen ($228 million).
Toyota said it would file the recall in Japan on Monday, covering 90,000 high-end sedans, as the world's largest automaker continues to ramp up its safety oversight following a string of recalls.
An official at Japan's transport ministry said he had been informed that Toyota was also planning a recall in North America and Europe. Toyota officials in the United States said an internal investigation will be completed next week into the engines, but they did not say whether the cars would be recalled.
Toyota declined to confirm the reported cost estimate for the recalls, which would amount to a relatively steep 74,000 yen ($844) a vehicle.
Since last September, Toyota has been plagued by a safety crisis that has led to the recall of more than 10 million vehicles globally, mostly for potential unintended acceleration. About 7.3 million vehicles have been recalled in the United States, the automaker's biggest market.
The latest potential safety defect covers seven Lexus sedan models and the Toyota Crown sedan whose engines could stall in rare cases due to faulty valve springs. About half of the 270,000 vehicles were sold in the United States.
No accidents or injuries have been reported, Toyota said.
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