TOKYO (AFP) - Japan’s Toyota Motor may recall its vehicles in Europe due to an accelerator problem that triggered massive recalls in the United States, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The world’s largest automaker is considering recalling Corolla, RAV4 and other models produced and sold in Europe, the Mainichi Shimbun reported, adding that it was not clear how many vehicles were involved.

The models are equipped with similar accelerator pedal parts to those of 2.3 million vehicles recalled in the United States, the latest in a series of recalls by Toyota, the daily said.

The Japanese company’s US division said Thursday that the recall was to correct accelerator pedals on the vehicles that become worn and then in some cases get lodged in a partially depressed position.

The action was separate to an ongoing recall of about 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles that began last year due to a risk of loose floor mats slipping forward and jamming the pedals.

An unnamed senior official of the company told the daily: “We cannot tell how much this recall will cost, but it can be handled within our reserve (for unexpected troubles).”

But Mainichi said a decline in Toyota’s reputation for quality following the malfunction may trim its earnings, adding it could take time for Toyota to recover customers’ confidence in its production.

Toyota, which overtook US rival GM in 2008 as the world’s largest automaker, returned to profit in the three months to September and upgraded its outlook for the rest of the year thanks to demand for fuel-efficient cars.

J.D. Power’s latest car owner satisfaction survey includes some good news for Chrysler Group and Hyundai.

Chrysler hasn’t done well in these sorts of surveys in recent years, but this time the new Dodge Challenger beat out its competitors as the most-favored mid-size sporty car. (Also worth noting: The Dodge brand, overall, earned above average scores in this survey after posting the largest one-year improvement of any car brand.) And Hyundai, not known as a luxury brand beat out higher-priced mid-sized luxury cars from BMW and Jaguar.

The market research company surveyed 80,000 new car buyers after 90 days of ownership asking them to rate as many 90 different features of their vehicles as well as their overall satisfaction. The J.D. Power APEAL survey — it stands for Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout — provides a measure of just how much new car buyers like their cars and why. Here’s a look at how the competition shook out.

The 2009 Aveo5 is a 4-door, 5-passenger wagon, available in 3 trims, ranging from the LS to the LT2.

The 2009 MAZDA3 is a 4-door, 5-passenger family sedan, or wagon, available in 8 trims, ranging from the i… read more Sport 4-Door to the s Grand Touring 5-Door.

Upon introduction, the i Sport 4-Door is equipped with a standard 2.0-liter, I4, 148-horsepower engine that achieves 24-mpg in the city and 32-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional. The s Grand Touring 5-Door is equipped with a standard 2.3-liter, I4, 156-horsepower engine that achieves 22-mpg in the city and 29-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional.

1986 Buick Grand National Burn out,

The 2009 Accent is a 2- or 4-door, 5-passenger family sedan, available in 3 trims, ranging from the GS 3-Door… read more to the SE 3-Door.

Upon introduction, both trims are equipped with a standard 1.6-liter, I4, 110-horsepower engine that achieves 27-mpg in the city and 33-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional.

The 2009 Accent is a carryover from 2008.

Fisker Automotive has taken the wraps off its “final, fully driveable production car,” to be officially unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in January 2009. Production of the rear-drive Karma plug-in hybrid is set to begin in October, with first deliveries in November via 40 U.S. retailers that Fisker says will be established by October.

The curvaceous Karma body, comprised of both aluminum and composite panels, rides on an aluminum space frame built in cooperation with Norsk Hydro of Norway. The Karma will be assembled by Valmet Automotive in Finland, the company that produces the Porsche Boxster and Cayman. Fisker is pegging yearly volume at 15,000 cars. The production interior is being built by Magna and should be ready by the Detroit show.

The 4-seat 4650-lb. Karma uses a powertrain Fisker calls “Q-drive,” which consists of two electric motors powered by a lithium-ion battery pack (located in the center tunnel) along with a 260-bhp 2.0-liter direct-injected turbocharged 4-cylinder supplied by General Motors (Chevy Cobalt SS/Pontiac Solstice GXP). All told, combined power is 408 hp and 959 lb.-ft. of torque. When running in high-performance Sport mode, the Karma is claimed to reach 60 mph in 5.8 sec. with a top speed of 125 mph. When run in economical Stealth mode, electric-only range is 50 miles.

The price of the Karma will be $87,900, although Fisker says the car is sold out until mid-2010.

Mercedes is planning to offer a hybrid S-class starting in 2009. The S400 BlueHybrid, a mild hybrid powered by M-B’s 3.5-liter V-6, boasts a lithium-ion battery co-developed with supplier Continental and described by Daimler R&D boss Thomas Weber as “a crucial breakthrough.”

Unlike Lexus’s LS600hL, the S400 is not aimed at the performance market. Instead, it uses its hybrid drivetrain solely for the traditional aim of fuel efficiency. Mated in the style of a mild hybrid with a 20-hp electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack, the V-6 will turn off while the car is stationary and kick back on when the driver wants the car to move. Under braking, the batteries are charged. The electric motor can’t propel the S400 on its own but assists in acceleration.

The compact lithium-ion battery module is far more powerful than conventional nickel-metal hydride batteries. It is integrated in the car’s cooling system to ensure optimal operating temperature.

BMW seemed miffed at the announcement, with executives pointing at the joint hybrid-vehicle alliance between BMW and Daimler. But this particular battery is a Mercedes development, and the carmaker holds 25 patents on it.

With internal combustion and electronic wizardry working together to produce 295 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque, the S400 is capable of a 0-to-62-mph sprint in a claimed 7.3 seconds and will pull to a governed 155 mph–all while delivering 30 mpg on the European cycle (up from 23 mpg) in S-class comfort. Additionally, the S400 packages all the hybrid equipment under the hood, so neither passenger room nor cargo space suffers for the driver’s conscientiousness.

Europe will get this hybrid in 2009, and a Mercedes spokesman confirmed that it will be offered in the U.S. later–we believe in 2010. If 30 mpg is not enough for you, and you can’t picture yourself in a Prius, start hoping Mercedes offers the upcoming and even thriftier S300 BlueTec diesel hybrid outside Europe.

 The Tata Nano may be the most expensive vehicle ever to be the cheapest new car on earth. Violent protests at one of the car’s planned assembly sites have gotten so rampant that the Indian automaker is near a deal to exit the nearly completed West Bengal facility all together. Just a few days after a supplier CEO was killed by a mob of protesters, two body guards were also assaulted at the contentious facility. The controversy in West Bengal centers around the land that local farmers lost to the $200 million Euro facility, and with the building nearly complete, it’s hard to believe that land will be returned any time soon even if Tata did abandon the region.

Word out of India is that the state of Karnataka has offered Tata Motors 1,000 acres plus incentives to move Nano production there, and the local media is reporting that Tata is going to announce plans as early as next week. We’re not in the micro car business, but if we were, we’d avoid building them where there is the constant threat of being beaten or killed by an angry mob. Moving Nano production to a region that actually wants the Tata there seems like a foregone conclusion at this point.