TOKYO – Toyota Motor has suspended taking orders for its Prius model cars to address a product recall due to faults found on rear door handle parts, a spokesman said on April 17.

Toyota is recalling 135,305 Prius vehicles in Japan manufactured between Nov 24, 2023 and April 3, Japan’s transport ministry said earlier. No accidents have been reported due to the fault.

It was not immediately clear if Prius cars sold outside Japan were also being recalled.

A Toyota spokesman said an assembly line that was suspended due to quality checks for Prius cars would resume production of Corolla compact cars on April 18.

Toyota supplier Tokai Rika said its door switches for Prius cars had issues, and the company expected to incur 11 billion yen (S$96 million) in costs due to the product recall.

In response to ST’s queries, a spokesperson from Inchcape Singapore said they are aware of the safety recall involving affected Toyota Prius model cars and is working to get replacement parts. Inchcape is the parent company of Borneo Motors, the authorised distributor of Toyota.

“Once the replacement parts are available, we will inform the affected vehicle owners to replace the door opener switches with updated ones without any charges,” the spokesperson added. REUTERS