JAPAN'S Toyota Motor Corp will recall more than 80,000 Chinese-made cars due to manual gear problems.

The cars may have loose nuts in the manual gears, which could lead to the gear handle falling off, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Website. It may also lead to accidents and injury in extreme conditions.

The recall, which will start from Monday, involves 8,640 Vios made between February 14 and June 10 this year.

Another 31,104 Corolla Ex sedans manufactured between June 1, 2007 and June 10 this year and 43,662 units of the new generation of Corolla, assembled between May 17, 2007 and June 10 this year, were included in the recall.

About 278 Yaris, the small compact launched in spring, would also be recalled if they were made between May 15 and June 5 this year.

The affected cars were made by its two joint ventures in China at its plants in Tianjin and Guangzhou.

Both car makers pledged to offer free inspection and maintenance while car owners could also dial 010-64629300 and 010-59799616 for detailed information.

Toyota is boosting its operations in China as it hopes the world's second-largest auto market would help it overcome dismal sales globally.

Last year, Toyota's sales in China rose 62 percent to 499,000 units. But the sales slowed to 34 percent in the first half of this year.