The latest in a series of recalls, which has now hit almost eight million Toyota cars worldwide, was again due to an accelerator problem and covered eight separate models and dates ranging back to February 2005.

Toyota said parts supplier CTS had begun making pedals based on a new design that resolved the problem and the two firms were testing a remedy.

Toyota's woes went into overdrive last week when it announced a recall of 2.3 million cars in the US due to safety fears related to accelerator pedals. It is also recalling almost 5.3 million US vehicles to replace floor mats that could trap accelerator pedals.

Toyota spokesman Etienne Plas said that ''at least 1.7 million'' of the cars already recalled outside Europe potentially suffered from both problems.

Taking that and the latest European recall into account, that left the total number of vehicles pulled worldwide at 7.7 million.

Toyota, which overtook General Motors in 2008 as the world's top-selling carmaker, has been bedevilled by safety issues that raised questions about whether it has sacrificed quality for quantity.