The company announced the recall of its Innova people carrier after it emerged that the seven-seater suffered from a visual fault which rendered the car so mind-numbingly dull that anyone who beholds it is at risk of developing headaches and lethargy. While nobody has been injured as a result of the defect, the Japanese car giant has gone ahead with the recall due to the risk of the styling boring other motorists to the point of sending them to sleep.
A Toyota spokesman allegedly told Life On Cars: “While the vast majority of our cars are designed these days to be as safe, aerodynamically efficient and as visually stimulating as possible, occasionally a model styled by someone clearly on a tea break or a work experience student does slip through the net.
“For this reason, and due to the safety implications of having a car in our model which is so dull it risks boring other drivers to the point of distraction, we’ve decided to recall the model and replace it with something more interesting purely as a purely measure.”
While the Innova, mercifully, is not sold in the UK, the measure comes in the wake of recent – and totally genuine - recalls affecting cars sold in this UK, including a trio of issues affecting the RAV4, Hilux, Yaris and Urban Cruiser models. Owners of the UK models affected by the real recall are urged to check whether their car is affected by looking at Toyota’s British website or by calling into their nearest dealer, but anybody who has been affected by the Innova’s styling defect can safely deal with the issue by looking at a more interesting car after they’ve read the rest of this column.
Motoring pundit Joe King said: “Toyota’s UK offerings have come on a long way from the terminally dull Corolla models of the 1990s – you only have to look at the GT86, for instance, to see that there are some cars with real soul and charisma in their showrooms these days.
“UK motorists should be relieved that the Innova isn’t a regular sight on this country’s roads, but it just goes to show that even the world’s biggest car companies can still offer some inexplicably dull models in their line-up.”
Several other car manufacturers have had to recall models due to styling defects before, including Ford for the indescribably dull Escort in 1990, Hyundai for the offensively ugly Coupe in 2000 and Ssangyong for the poorly-proportioned Rodius people carrier.
Any readers considering buying any of these models are urged to consult their nearest optician for further advice.
