WASHINGTON – Toyota said Friday it will recall 17,000 Lexus luxury hybrids after testing showed that fuel can spill during a rear end crash, The Associated Press reported.

The Japanese automaker said tests conducted for the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration found that fuel leaked during a rear impact crash at 50 miles per hour on a 2010 HS250h sedan. The test, conducted by a NHTSA contractor, showed that fuel spilled as the vehicle spun around after impact.

Toyota’s own testing has not shown any spillage, but a spokesman said the company plans to issue a voluntary recall as it continues to try to replicate the government’s results. It is notifying dealers to stop selling the car.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has attempted to rebound from a series of recalls tied to reports of unintended acceleration and other defects. The Obama administration penalized Toyota with a record $16.4 million fine for acting too slowly on the recalls.

Dealers have repaired millions of vehicles, but the auto giant faces more than 200 lawsuits connected to accidents and the lower resale value of vehicles.

Earlier this week, Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the automaker’s founder, apologized to shareholders for the trouble caused by the recalls. He said the company was doing its best to improve quality control.

Toyota said it has not identified a fix for the reported problems of fuel spillage.

DETROIT — Volkswagen AG notified U.S. safety regulators that it is recalling 15,902 of its 2009 Routan minivan over a possible wiring problem that could lead to a fire, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Chrysler Group LLC assembles the vehicles for VW at its Windsor, Ontario plant.

Chrysler itself announced Monday it was recalling 318,974 of its Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans because of the same wiring problem. The minivans are made at the same plant.

Under certain conditions, the lower sliding door hinge bracket can make contact with some internal wiring installation, which may cause a fire within the rear sliding door. Both companies have had no reports of injuries or accidents associated with the problem.

Volkswagen said in a statement posted on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it will start the recall sometime this month although a date was not provided.

General Motors Co. earlier this week recalled 1.5 million vehicles with heated washer-fluid systems following engine fires that continued to occur even after a fix was made in 2008. Also Suzuki Motor Corp. recently recalled 46,549 of its Grand Vitara and XL-7 vehicles over the possibility of a plastic piece breaking off the tension adjuster pulley.

The recalls underscore a hypersensitivity within the auto industry to quickly initiate recalls following the plight of Toyota Motor Co. The auto maker was fined $16.4 million for failing to notify NHTSA of defects that led to gas pedals “sticking” in the acceleration mode even when a driver’s foot had been lifted.

DETROIT — General Motors Co. is recalling more than 1.5 million cars and trucks sold globally because of a glitch in the windshield wiper fluid system that could ignite a fire, the latest in a growing number of high-profile safety recalls for the U.S. auto industry, reported The Wall Street Journal.

GM is unable to repair the system, because the supplier that makes the system is no longer in business, and instead will remove the heated fluid feature and compensate vehicle owners with $100.

“While our analysis shows the number of incidents is very small compared with the number of vehicles on the road, we want our customers to have complete peace of mind,” Jeff Boyer, GM executive director of safety, said in a statement.

GM’s recall involves 2006 through 2009 model-year vehicles including Buick Enclave, Cadillac CTS and several Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks and SUVs.

GM attempted to fix the problem in a 2008 recall, but has since received reports of “thermal incidents” on repaired vehicles, according to a filing with the NHTSA.

The company reported five known fires, but no injuries or crashes.

Around 1.4 million of the affected vehicles are in the U.S.; more than 100,000 are in Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.

DETROIT — Chrysler Group LLC confirmed it is voluntarily recalling more than 683,000 Jeep Wranglers and minivans worldwide over brake-line and sliding-power-door issues, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The automaker said the recall affects 364,732 of its 2007 through 2010 Jeep Wrangler models. Potentially, brake lines could come in contact with the inner-fender lining, which could reduce braking performance over time, Chrysler said in a statement.

Chrysler is also recalling 318,974 of its 2008-2009 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans because of the potential for interior wiring to come in contact with the sliding power door, which could cause a short circuit leading to a fire.

The company has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the recalls and says it isn’t aware of any accidents or injuries related to either issue.

Last week, Chrysler announced it was voluntarily recalling 34,700 Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass vehicles world-wide amid a federal investigation into a potential “sticky accelerator” pedal.

That announcement was posted on the NHTSA Web site on Friday. NHTSA also knew of the Wrangler and minivan recalls on Friday, but that information wasn’t posted on the agency’s Web site until as late as Monday.

A total of 288,302 Wranglers are being recalled in the U.S.; 28,976 in Canada; 6,438 in Mexico and 41,016 in the company’s international markets.

There are 284,831 minivans being recalled in the U.S.; 15,295 in Canada; 3,994 in Mexico and 14,854 in the international markets.

Chrysler Group LLC recalled almost 35,000 Dodge and Jeep vehicles for accelerator pedals that may become stuck, Bloomberg reported.

The pedals in Dodge Calibers and Jeep Compasses for the 2007 model year were made by CTS Corp., the Elkhart, Ind.-based company that supplied similar parts in Toyota Motor Corp.’s cars. The recall covers 34,614 Calibers and 90 Compasses, with 73 percent in the U.S., Chrysler said in a statement.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last month it was investigating Chrysler’s vehicles after five consumers reported pedals became stuck while driving. NHTSA said this week it is investigating Ford Motor Co. cars for pedals that may become stuck on floor mats. Toyota has ordered record recalls for pedals that were sticky or became trapped by mats, contributing to unintended acceleration.

The recalled Chrysler vehicles have electronic throttle control technology, the company said in a June 3 letter to NHTSA. The software is intended to stop cars when both the accelerator and brake are applied. Chrysler is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Chrysler said it isn’t aware of any accidents or injuries related to the pedal defect.

Toyota Motor Corp. has stopped sales of the Lexus LS sedan for about three weeks while it works to get parts to dealers to fix a problem with the vehicle’s steering system, The Associated Press reported.

Toyota on Friday recalled about 3,800 2009 and 2010 LS 460 and LS 600h sedans in the United States to fix a problem in which the steering wheel briefly shifts out of alignment with the wheels when it is turned to the extreme right or left and then quickly re-centered, such as in a tight U-turn. Toyota said it will remedy the problem by replacing the computer processor in the vehicle’s variable gear ratio steering system.

Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said Lexus dealers will stop selling the LS until they receive the new computer chips for installation. The new parts are likely to begin arriving in mid-to-late June, he said.

Toyota has recalled about 4,500 LS sedans in Japan and 2,750 elsewhere around the world due to the same problem. The LS is Lexus’s highest-end four-door sedan and is priced at $65,380 for the 460 and $108,800 for the 600h hybrid model.

Toyota has sold about 4,000 LS sedans in the U.S. so far this year, accounting for about 6 percent of all Lexus sales. Vehicles covered by the recall were built between Aug. 28 and May 18. LS models produced outside that window do not experience the problem and are available for sale, Lyons said, adding that LS models are currently coming off the production line with the fix already installed.

Lexus builds all of the LS models at its Tahara plant in central Japan.

The automaker has been working to react faster to problems after coming under government scrutiny and being slapped with a record $16.4 million U.S. fine for its slow response to accelerator pedal recalls that affected more than 8 million Toyota vehicles worldwide. The automaker is also facing hundreds of state and federal lawsuits.

Toyota’s safety concerns have triggered the first major review of U.S. auto safety laws in Congress since the large tire recalls by Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. in 2000.