Tokyo: Toyota said on Tuesday it is voluntarily fixing 1.3 million vehicles in North America for engine oil leaks but denied the campaign is a recall because it did not affect safety.
"It is what we call a service campaign," said Toyota spokeswoman Mieko Iwasaki in Tokyo.
Toyota has been carrying out repairs for the past five months, Iwasaki said. The Toyota spokeswoman said the company had already repaired the oil leak problem free-of-charge in 342,200 Avalon, Camry and RAV4 models and 374,000 Lexus ES 350 and RX 350 vehicles in the United States.
The company had first informed North American dealers and car owners of the campaign in October and launched its third phase last week to voluntarily repair the defect, a crack in an engine hose.
In an email on Tuesday, the company said the problem "may cause oil to leak from the VVT-i oil hose producing abnormal engine noise and the oil pressure light to illuminate."
"This is not a safety recall, and submitting a Defect Information Report to the (US) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is not required."
Japan's biggest car maker has come under fire for its global recalls of more than eight million vehicles for accelerator and brake system defects.
Toyota executives were due to face a US Senate panel investigation later on Tuesday after company president Akio Toyoda last week apologised in a US House hearing and did the same in Beijing on Monday.
In China, Toyoda again apologised on Tuesday for causing "worries and troubles to customers", the Jiji Press reported.
"I am grateful for the opportunity of direct dialogue in the United States. I think I made a proper explanation in China, too," he said.
