Toyota recalls 7.4 million cars worldwide over faulty window switches

Toyota is voluntarily recalling more than 7 million vehicles worldwide, including some Yaris, Corolla and Camry models, over faulty window switches.

Toyota said these would include 1.39 million vehicles across Europe, 2.47 million in the US and 1.4 million in China.

It is the biggest single one since Ford recalled 8 million vehicles in 1996.

Toyota said there had been no reports of accidents, injuries or deaths as a result of the window problem.

Toyota is also recalling 459,000 vehicles in Japan, 650,000 vehicles in Australia and Asia, as well as hundreds of thousands from across the Middle East, and from within Canada.

The range of Toyota cars affected include certain models of the Yaris, Vios, Corolla, Matrix, Auris, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia, xB and xD produced between 2005 and 2010.

The company said in a statement that the problem lay with the electric window switch that controls the windows for the driver and passengers.

It says that on certain models the switch may not operate smoothly and could then end up becoming stiff or not working.

Toyota says that applying oil to the switch could cause it to overheat and possibly melt.

It will be contacting drivers with the affected models over the coming weeks and asking them to bring their car in for checks to see if there is a fault.