Toyota Motor Corp. announced this week that it will recall nearly two million Prius hybrid cars due to a software glitch causing transistors to overheat severely.
The world's largest car manufacturer said on Wednesday that it would remove all of its third generation Prius vehicles from the market due to the defect, the Wall Street Journal reported.
About 1.9 million cars will be recalled.
If particular transistors on the vehicles in question overheat, the hybrid function could blackout, causing the car to simply stop running.
This recall is the largest ever for the Prius, which has been in production for nearly 17 years - a global recall in February 2012 comes in second, with 397,000 cars removed from Toyota's automobile lineup.
Experts say this setback shows issues carmakers face as they seek electronic alternatives for cars.
HIS Automotive analyst Hiroshi Ataka told the Wall Street Journal that make vehicle manufacturers are trying to make electric cars without having to shell out a bunch of cash, which could end up costing them more money in the future.
"Car makers need to bring together their wisdom to avoid recalls as they use more electronic parts...and try to share these parts," Ataka stated.
The newest recalled model first went into production in 2009, the WSJ reported.
Toyota's announcement comes just one week after the company projected record-high profits for the year.
