Although Toyota Motor Corp’s Vietnamese unit asserts that all of the imported vehicles to the country will not be affect by the ongoing recall campaign over some 185,000 Toyota vehicles globally, some unofficial dealers claim the opposite.

The Japanese automaker is recalling the vehicles, of the Yaris and Verso-S models that were manufactured between November 2010 and March 2012, due to a problem with the electric power steering system.

“The coil wire used in a relay within the system may have been stored without the correct humidity control during the manufacturing process,” the company said in a statement.

Moisture absorbed by the wire may condense and form droplets on some of the relay terminals. This could lead to a short circuit, prompting the steering system’s control module to suspend power assistance, it said.

Toyota said drivers will experience heavier steering feel, particularly at low speed when the problem occurs.

A representative of Toyota Vietnam told Tuoi Tre on Friday that the available Yaris vehicles in Vietnam are all imported from Thailand by the authorized dealers, and they are not affected by the recall.

However, many unofficial car importers say some of the Yaris being circulated in Vietnam are imported from US and Japan, and thus may be recalled.

Toyota, the world's bestselling carmaker, is recalling around 130,000 vehicles in Japan, some 7,050 vehicles in Germany and about 7,000 vehicles in France, as well as in several other countries, according to Reuters.

No accidents have been reported from this glitch, it quoted Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto as saying.