Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has launched a safety recall campaign for the GR Yaris hot hatch. The said safety campaign covers a total of 94 GR Yaris units in the Philippines produced from June 3 to August 2, 2021.
Based on the notice sent by TMP to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the GR Yaris needs to be recalled due to a faulty millimeter wave sensor or simply known as a radar sensor. The radar sensor is an important vehicle component as it supports the GR Yaris’ pre-collision system.
A faulty radar sensor means that the pre-collision system tech may not function the way it is designed, and not be activated when the need arises. To put things in perspective, a faulty radar sensor would not be able to let the pre-collision system detect a vehicle in front, and would not provide warnings or braking assistance.
Toyota Australia has also launched the same safety recall campaign last February. A total of 18,490 vehicles were affected by the recall including the GR Yaris, Yaris Cross, Yaris, and CH-R.
TMP also said that the GR Yaris will not be able to display a message or indicator to the driver that the pre-collision system is not functional, which could increase the risk of a crash. The safety recall is announced in order for TMP to inspect and initialized the radar sensor.
“With this, we will inspect, and initialize the millimeter wave sensor, if necessary, at no cost to our customers,” Toyota said in its recall notice sent to the DTI.
The Toyota GR Yaris is a hot hatch that’s powered by a 1.6-liter gasoline engine that puts out 257 hp and 360 Nm of torque. The engine is connected to a six-speed manual transmission, and it comes with a 4WD system. It also has a GR High Performance suspension pack.
On the other hand, Toyota is reportedly developing a GR Yaris that’s equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The Toyota GR Yaris AT prototype was previously spotted at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally Challenge in Japan. It wasn’t just on display but it competed in the Rookie Racing GR Yaris division, driven by Toyota Motor Corporation’s Vice Chairman of the Board Shigeru Hayakawa.
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