I remember Toyota doing this back when the accelerator recall. Only a handful of models were affected, and only I believe 2 people died. Instead of recalling just the affected models, they recalled several million, just to be sure.

You have a very selective memory. Toyota absolutely claimed there was nothing wrong with their vehicles, and only issued a recall after being forced to by the feds. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming the entire way.

They also settled a lawsuit for over a billion dollars in 2014 to avoid prosecution for covering up the defect in the first place.