Toyota has issued an urgent recall for thousands of newly-released vehicles sold across Australia over safety concerns.

The Japanese car manufacturer, which was just crowned Australia’s most-sold brand, issued the recall on Friday after a manufacturing fault was found to impact the motor generator electronic control unit.

The recall affects nearly 6000 RAV4 plug-in hybrid vehicles across Australia, with 2WD and 4WD models both impacted.

“If the electric motor does not operate as intended, the vehicle may enter fail-safe mode or shut down, resulting in loss of motive power,” Toyota said in a recall statement.

The car giant said that loss of power increases the risk of accidents occurring, causing “serious injury and death” to both those inside the vehicle and other road users.

Mechanical work to fix the issue is being offered by Toyota, with owners of impacted vehicles urged to contact their dealership.

“Toyota requests they make an appointment at their preferred Toyota dealer who will rectify the issue free of charge,” it said.

The RAV4 PHEV, first released in June 2026, is Toyota’s first plug-in hybrid car locally offered on the Australian market.

The car topped the national sales charts in July and August 2026 but remains without a safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program.

News of the recall comes just days after data revealed the Japanese brand is expected to sell a record-number of vehicles in Australia during the last months of 2026.

Toyota Australia vice president of sales John Pappas said the company was on track to remain at the top of the local sales charts “by a healthy margin”.

“Based on where we are right now, and with the plans that we’ve got for the last quarter, we’ll be number one again this year for the 31st year in Australia,” he told media last week.