Toyota Motors will recall 5,202 imported Lexus cars in China to fix a malfunctioning gas-pedal problem beginning March 23, China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has said.

Toyota’s announcement of its recall plans in China came on Friday, a day after the AQSIQ, China’s quality watchdog, demanded an explanation from the Japanese car maker regarding problems with the Lexus.

A spokesperson for AQSIQ on Thursday asked Toyota to “make a full explanation and provide detailed technical descriptions”, following its claim that vehicles that were sold on the Chinese market were not defective.

According to Toyota’s announcement, 5,202 imported Lexus RX300/350 cars manufactured between February 2003 and July 2006 will be recalled in China starting March 23 due to possible safety hazards.

If the floor carpet around the accelerator pedal is not properly replaced in the correct position, there is a possibility that the plastic pad embedded into the floor carpet may interfere with the operation of the accelerator pedal.

If this occurs, the accelerator pedal may become temporarily stuck in a partially depressed position, rather than returning to the idle position, Xinhua news agency quoted Toyota statement as saying.

Owners of the affected RX 300/350 vehicles will receive a notification by first class mail beginning March and Toyota and Lexus dealers will implement the newly announced and amended recall remedies at no charge to the vehicle owners, the statement said.

Since the end of 2009 to the end of 2010, Toyota had already recalled nearly 16 million products. Toyota’s sales volume in China covers 10 per cent of its total sales in the world. In 2010, the company sold 846,000 vehicles in China.

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