Toyota recalls nearly 700,000 vehicles

A Toyota Camry is seen at the Chicago Auto Show in this February 9, 2010 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

CHICAGO - Toyota Motor Corp. disclosed Wednesday that it plans to recall 681,500 vehicles in the North American market in two separate recalls, to fix faulty brake lights in sedans and crossovers, while remedying a separate problem with its pickups' steering wheels.

Toyota says it hadn't been notified of any accidents or injuries caused by the problems in either of the recalls, and that it will notify owners of involved vehicles in early April.

One of the two recalls involves 495,000 Tacoma pickups sold between 2005 and early 2009 that could prevent the trucks' driver-side air bags from inflating in a crash.

"Due to the combination of steering wheel spiral cable design and characteristics unique to the Tacoma chassis, friction between the spiral cable and the retainer in the steering wheel spiral cable assembly may occur," the car maker said on its website.

The flaw could damage the electrical connection for the driver's airbag module, causing the airbag not to go off in a crash, it added.

Another recall includes 70,500 2009 Camrys and 116,000 2009-11 Venzas for a stop lamp switch issue that could prevent the car from starting.

Toyota plans to replace the faulty stop lamp switches on all affected vehicles after it has obtained the replacement parts.

The Japanese auto giant lost its place as the world's largest car-maker last year to U.S manufacturer General Motors due to a earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis that devastated the company's supply chain last March and mass recalls in 2010 that raised concerns over the quality of its products.