Toyota recommends that no occupants sit in the front passenger seat of certain 2022-2023 Corolla Crosses until a fix for a faulty airbag has been implemented. It has launched a recall of 109,806 examples of the vehicle in the U.S. and Canada as a result of the fault.
The automaker is looking into non-hybrid examples of the Corolla Cross from the 2022 and 2023 model years. Of those, 96,000 are located in the United States, and 13,806 are in Canada.
Toyota says that these vehicles’ front passenger side airbags might not deploy as a result of a manufacturing error in the instrument panel where the airbag is located. If the vehicle is involved in an accident, an airbag failure significantly increases the risk of an injury, or death. The error also means that Corolla Crosses affected by this issue do not comply with all applicable regulations.
Read: Faulty Airbags Found In 2022 And 2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron Models
It is not yet clear if any injuries, deaths, or accidents have been caused by this defect, and a recall notice has not yet been published by the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A Toyota spokesperson declined to comment on incidents related to this error, or their consequences.
The nature of the production fault that caused the airbags not to deploy has not yet been explained, but Toyota says that to remedy the issue, it will replace the instrument panel that is preventing the airbag from deploying.
Toyota says that the owners of affected Corolla Crosses will be notified of this issue by late July 2023. They will be asked to return their vehicle to a dealer, where it will be inspected, and the panel will be replaced where necessary. All repairs and inspections related to this recall will be conducted at no cost to the owner.
