Toyota announced a massive recall of its cars, which numbered to almost a million units in the US alone. TorqueNews reports that the car maker recalled 700,000 units of 2010 to 2014 Prius models along with 260,000 units of 2012 RAV 4's, 2012 to 2013 Tacoma and Lexus RX350 models.

But keep in mind that these figures are for the US only. Globally, Toyota is recalling almost 1.9 million units of Prius cars. This includes 130,000 units in Europe, 713,000 in North America, and 997,000 in Japan.

According to the car manufacturer, the Prius recall was caused by a problem in the car's ECU, or engine management computer. Although there have been no reports yet regarding accidents caused by the software problem, Toyota is not taking any risks.

The software issue could cause the cars to suddenly lose power. According to Toyota's website,"The software's current settings could result in higher thermal stress in certain transistors, potentially causing them to become damaged. If this happens, various warning lights will illuminate and the vehicle can enter a failsafe mode. In rare circumstances, the hybrid system might shut down while the vehicle is being driven, resulting in a loss of power and the vehicle coming to a stop."

On the other hand, ABC 15 reports the recall of the 260,000 Lexus RX350, Tacoma, and RAV 4 units was caused by a problem in the vehicles' electronic circuits. This issue could turn off the function for the cars' Anti-lock Brake, Traction Control, and Vehicle Stability Control. But according to Toyota's website, "If these systems are off, standard braking operation remains fully functional."

Toyota is offering owners of these recalled models with free software updates. They will be notified by first class mail once the software updates are available at their local dealers.

Those with additional questions regarding the recall can visit www.toyota.com/recall or www.lexus.com/recall. You may also get in touch with Toyota or Lexus directly by calling 800-833-4331 (for Toyota) and 800-255-3987 (for Lexus).