Toyota recalls cars over steering problem

The world's largest car maker, which faced a global safety crisis earlier this year, said it would recall 65,000 compact iQ and Passo cars in Japan and about 70,800 in Europe, all of them built between 2008 and 2010.

The decision was made after it was found that power steering sensors could cause a problem when driving over bumps, making steering heavier, a spokesman said, adding there had been no reports of accidents in connection with the issue.

The company is to replace the necessary software on all cars.

Multiple recalls by Toyota this month have come after a series of mass recalls of around 10 million vehicles worldwide announced in late 2009 and early 2010, which have undermined the company's once sparkling reputation.

The crisis has prompted US congressional investigations after Toyota was fined a record GBP10.1 million over claims it had hidden accelerator pedal defects blamed for dozens of deaths.

Toyota last month announced a global safety recall of about 1.5 million vehicles to fix a brake fluid leak that, it warned, could gradually diminish braking performance.

Toyota in October said it had completed more than five million repairs on US vehicles affected by the series of recalls.