Toyota Motor Corp. on Dec. 19 issued a safety recall of approximately 3,400 model year 2019 Corolla hatchback vehicles in the U.S. over potentially defective torque converters.

The Japanese carmaker said the torque converter in certain vehicles' continuously variable transmission, or CVT, could fail and lead to a loss of motive power, increasing the risk of a crash.

Toyota dealers will replace the direct shift-CVT of affected cars with a new one containing a new torque converter.

Owners of all affected vehicles will receive direct notification by mid-February 2019, Toyota said.

The announcement follows an earlier recall notice for around 133,000 Tacomas, Land Cruisers and Lexus cars in the U.S. The company last week also announced a recall of approximately 65,000 vehicles to replace Takata Corp. airbags.