Both models are produced in the TPCA (Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile) plant, a joint venture which assembles around 200,000 Peugeot and Citroen cars every year alongside Toyota Aygo vehicles.
The compact models are exclusively produced in the plant in Kolin, 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of Prague and are chiefly destined for European markets, the PSA spokesman said. He was unable to say exactly when the recall would be launched or how many vehicles were involved. "We are at the investigation phase to establish which phase of production is concerned," he explained. Developed by Toyota, the 107, the C1 and the Aygo are essentially the same car with styling and fitment difference.
PSA has no other joint ventures with Toyota. The models involved in the Toyota recall are the Aygo, iQ, Yaris, Auris, Corolla, Verso, Avensis and RAV4 series, covering a variety of periods going back to February 2005. Toyota's president apologised for the recall, which has tarnished the Japanese automaker's reputation for quality, on the sidelines of the Davos forum in Switzerland.
"We're extremely sorry to have made customers feel uneasy," Akio Toyoda told public broadcaster NHK in his first public remarks on the recall since it went global this week. "Right now, we are trying to establish the facts and preparing for giving an explanation so anxiety among customers would be removed as soon as possible," he said.
Toyota pulled up to 1.8 million vehicles in Europe on Friday - the latest in a series of recalls that have affected almost eight million Toyota cars world-wide - more than its entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 million vehicles. Toyota, which overtook General Motors in 2008 as the top-selling automaker, has been bedevilled by a series of safety issues that have raised questions about whether it sacrificed its legendary quality to become world number one.
Toyota's woes went into overdrive last week when it announced a recall of 2.3 million cars in the United States due to the accelerator pedal fears, the same problem that affected over 75,000 Toyota cars in China. It is also recalling almost 5.3 million US vehicles to replace floor mats that could trap accelerator pedals. At least 1.7 million of the cars already recalled outside Europe potentially suffer from both problems, according to Toyota.