TOKYO — Toyota recalled nearly 1.7 million cars worldwide today for fuel leaks, the latest in a ballooning number of quality problems that could add another dent to its tarnished reputation in the crucial U.S. market.

Toyota’s latest recalls are mostly in Japan, but they also include the IS and GS Lexus luxury models in North America, where the world’s No. 1 automaker faces the biggest obstacles to winning back customer trust.

Toyota’s U.S. sales lagged last year despite an industry recovery, putting General Motors within reach of reclaiming its title as the world’s biggest carmaker by number of vehicles sold. Toyota became the top-selling automaker in 2008, dethroning GM after nearly 80 years of dominance.

There were no accidents related to the latest recall, according to Toyota. The carmaker said it had received 77 complaints overseas, 75 of them in North America, and more than 140 in Japan.

Koji Endo, auto analyst with Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo, said the latest recall will cost Toyota about $240 million, and that won’t hurt its earnings performance by much.

“But there is that perception of ‘Here we go again,’ and that hurts Toyota’s image, especially in North America,” he said.

Toyota is likely trying to be aggressive with recalls, carrying them out quickly before they turn into bigger problems, and so the latest one is not a sign that quality is taking another plunge for the worse at the automaker, Endo said.

Still, the manufacturer — whose “Toyota Way” production methods have been praised and emulated around the world — can’t hope to claim to have put the problems behind it either.

The largest number of the affected vehicles was in Japan at nearly 1.3 million — the second-largest auto recall in the nation’s history — and involving two different problems.