NEW YORK — Toyota recalled 1.33 million Corolla sedans and Matrix hatchbacks in the U.S. and Canada Thursday because their engines may stall, the latest in a string of quality problems at the Japanese automaker.

The recall covers vehicles from the 2005-2008 model years sold in the U.S. and Canada. Three accidents and one minor injury have been reported, though Toyota said a link to the engine issue has not been confirmed.


Toyota's latest recall is one of its largest since it began recalling cars and trucks last October. The automaker has now recalled more than 10 million vehicles worldwide for problems that run from faulty gas pedals and floor mats that can trap accelerators, to problems with its Prius hybrid.

Toyota said Corollas and Matrixes equipped with 1ZZ-FE engines may contain a defective engine control module, the computer that regulates the performance of the engine. In some cases, a crack may develop on the module's circuit board, which could prevent the engine from starting or could cause harsh shifting or an engine stall.

Separately, General Motors Co. is recalling 200,000 Pontiac Vibes in North America due to the same problem, GM spokesman Alan Adler said. The Vibe is similar to the Matrix and was built under a joint venture between Toyota and GM at a now-closed factory in Fremont, Calif.

Both automakers said they will replace the engine control modules on the recalled vehicles at no charge. The companies will begin mailing notifications to owners of the affected vehicles in mid-September.

The engine control module with the possible defect was manufactured by Delphi Corp., a large auto parts supplier headquartered in Troy, Mich., according to documents filed with federal regulators.

The automaker has been more aggressive in its pace of recalls in recent months. Its last recall was in late July, when the automaker said it would fix half a million cars, mostly Toyota Avalon sedans, over a steering issue.

U.S. regulators hit Toyota with a $16.4 million fine earlier this year for failing to promptly tell the government about its car defects. Toyota has been working to overhaul its quality controls and respond more aggressively to customer complaints in the fallout of its recall crisis.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating the possibility of engine stalling in the Corolla and Matrix models since late November. On Tuesday, the traffic safety agency said it had intensified its investigation.

NHTSA spokeswoman Olivia Alair said Thursday that the probe is ongoing. Toyota spokesman John Hanson said the automaker is cooperating with the safety agency on the probe. He said it was the automaker's decision to issue the recall, adding it was not pressured by NHTSA to do so.

U.S.-traded shares in Toyota Motor Corp. fell 34 cents to $68.72.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Drivers appear to be much less fearful of unintended acceleration these days, Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday in an update on its ramped-up safety efforts.

The Japanese auto maker, still working to recover from a rash of safety recalls, reported that the amount of customers voicing concern over acceleration problems has dropped 80% since April.
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“Toyota has made significant progress in recent months to help ensure that our customers can have complete confidence in the quality, safety and reliability of their vehicles, and our latest initiatives build on those accomplishments,” said Steve St. Angelo, Toyota’s chief quality officer.

He also pointed out that Toyota engineers, after examining 4,200 vehicles, were unable to find a single case in which an electronic throttle system glitch would lead to sudden unintended acceleration.

Overall, Toyota /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 71.27, +0.08, +0.11%) said it has performed more than 5 million remedies for the three recalls announced in the past year, including 1.8 million to address sticky pedals, 3.1 million to take care of mats that could trap the pedal and about 128,000 to update the antilock-brake systems in certain 2010 Prius and Lexus models.


A Toyota employee works on an engine in Huntsville, Ala.

Toyota came under fire earlier this year and faced congressional lawmakers, after mounting recalls and failing to react promptly led to stinging criticism from U.S. regulators and a record fine of more that $16.4 million.

Consumers, long accustomed to Toyota’s track record for quality, have turned on the brand in the wake of the recalls. Sales have underperformed rivals, with Toyota’s market share dropping to 15.2% so far this year from 16.6% through September 2009.

“Toyota should really be doing better by now, but these lingering effects have been a challenge,” said Nationwide Chief Economist Paul Ballew, who’s a former sales analyst in the auto industry. “They are languishing worse than we’d thought.”

Shares of Toyota closed down 1.4% at $70.79 on Monday and have now lost 16% so far this year.

No electronic causes of Toyotas' sudden acceleration found so far

filed the suit in Brooklyn Federal Court, accusing Toyota of failing to install a shut-off button on the cars that would turn off the engine if the car was unoccupied or untouched for a period of time.