Toyota Vietnam recalls over 20,000 cars with faulty airbags

HANOI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Toyota Vietnam is recalling 20,490 Corolla and Lexus cars whose faulty airbag inflator modules could be broken, and metal debris could injure passengers.

The recall included 16,964 Corollas assembled in Vietnam between Jan. 4, 2010 and Dec. 29, 2012, according to the Japanese-invested company on Thursday.

Airbag inflator modules provided by Japanese firm Takata could be affected by humidity, so when front passenger airbag systems are activated, the release of inert gas could sometimes generate too much pressure inside the modules and make them break.

Vietnam spent 419 million U.S. dollars importing automobiles and components for assembly in the first two months of this year, dropping 49 percent against the same period last year, said the country's General Statistics Office.

Specifically, Vietnam imported 500 completely-built automobiles worth 35 million U.S. dollars, down 96.5 percent and 88.5 percent, respectively. Enditem