LOS ANGELES — A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hold a hearing Feb. 25 to investigate Toyota's massive recalls related to vehicles that can accelerate out of control.

The subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., yesterday issued exhaustive data requests to both

Toyota and to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland.

The probe began earlier this week after Toyota said it would stop production and sales of eight of its most popular vehicles, including the Camry and Corolla, while it developed a remedy for a sticking accelerator-pedal system that can cause unintended acceleration.

Meanwhile, Toyota's recall for sticky accelerator pedals expanded worldwide yesterday, as the Japanese automaker said it would pull vehicles from Europe and China.