Toyota to recall almost quarter of a million pick-ups in the US

It was the third safety recall issued by Toyota USA this month. On September 18, the Japanese automaker recalled 20,000 cars due to bad welding on a fuel delivery pipe in the engine compartment that could cause a fuel leak and subsequent fire.

That recall affected 2015 model year Lexus RX, the company's luxury brand, and four 2014 model year brands: Avalon, Camry, Highlander and Sienna.

The company also issued another recall on September that affected 130,000 of 2014 model year Tundra pick-up trucks to fix a structure that could interfere with side air-bag deployment in the case of a crash. No crashes, injuries or deaths were reported.

Toyota could face further scrutiny in the US after regulators said on Monday they are evaluating a petition to investigate about 1.7m Toyota Corolla cars, after an allegation the model suffers problems that causes the engine to surge and the brakes to fail.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it received a request from an unnamed consumer on September 11. The petition alleges that Corollas from model years 2006 to 2010 may experience engine surges at low speeds, and that its brakes may fail to stop the vehicle in time to prevent a crash.

The regulator said the letter's author allegedly experienced "multiple low-speed surge events" while driving a 2010 Corolla, including one that resulted in a collision with a parked vehicle in June.

Toyota said it "will fully co-operate with any inquiry regarding the petition."

*Ford has predicted its global sales will reach 9.4m vehicles by 2020, up from the 6.2m vehicles it sold vehicles in 2013. The forecast came in an investor day presentation in the US, which also revealed that the company expects to make a pre-tax loss of about $250m in Europe in 2015.

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