Toyota in New Zealand says it's recalling 26,050 Corolla, Picnic, Yaris, and RAV4 vehicles for a possible fault with the driver and front seat passenger airbags.

It's part of a worldwide recall of Toyota and rival Nissan cars, totalling about 6.5 million vehicles globally in the latest chapter of an exploding airbag crisis linked to at least five deaths.

The world's biggest carmaker said its recall of five million vehicles affected 35 models globally produced between March 2003 to November 2007, while Nissan said its recall of 1.56 million vehicles worldwide was also due to a defect in airbags made by embattled supplier Takata.

The latest measure will add to about 17 million vehicles that 10 carmakers have recalled since 2008 for faulty airbags that have resulted in deaths and injuries.