Toyota Motor Europe announced Friday a plan to recall up to 1.8 million vehicles in Europe because their accelerator pedals could potentially become stuck.

Factoring in huge recalls in the United States, Canada and China, the automaker's total recall figure will now swell to more than 7.6 million vehicles--a figure that exceeds Toyota's worldwide sales of 6.98 million in 2009.

"We understand that the current situation is creating concerns, and we deeply regret it," Tadashi Arashima, president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Europe, said.

"The potential accelerator pedal issue only occurs in very rare circumstances. The announced action is a preventive measure aimed at guaranteeing the highest safety standards for all customers," Arashima said.

Toyota plans to file with the concerned ministries of each European nation reports on products that need to be recalled, and will exchange faulty parts for customers in countries where a recall system has not been established.

Toyota Motor Europe said it would not stop production in Europe because it does not use the pedals, which were produced by CTS Corp., an American auto parts maker.

Toyota Motor Europe said the models to be recalled include Corolla passenger cars, RAV 4 sport-utility vehicles and six other models that were produced between February 2005 and January 2010. No Lexus models are affected.

For vehicles outfitted with the potentially faulty pedals, there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms could become stuck in a partially depressed position or make a slow return to the idle position--though Toyota Motor Europe said such events are very rare.