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TOKYO - Toyota said Tuesday it was recalling hundreds of thousands of hybrid vehicles globally, including its best-selling Prius, plunging it deeper into crisis as lawsuits in the United States piled up.
Toyota, facing a barrage of complaints ranging from unintended acceleration to brake failure, is scrambling to reassure drivers it did not sacrifice safety in its successful drive to be the world's largest automaker.
But in another heavy blow to its brand image, long synonymous with reliability and quality, Toyota said it was pulling 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles from the road to repair a flaw in the braking system.
The company is now recalling almost 8.7 million vehicles around the world -- far more than its entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 million vehicles.
Toyota "will do everything in our power to regain the confidence of our customers," its president Akio Toyoda said at a news conference, offering yet another apology to customers for the technical troubles.
The Toyota family scion, under fire for his handling of the crisis, said he planned to travel to the United States to explain the safety woes, but will not personally attend a US congressional hearing on Wednesday.
Toyota is facing a raft of lawsuits in the United States. In one of the latest, a California woman is alleging her Prius has severe braking problems which make it dangerous to drive.
Lawyers for the plaintiff are pursuing what is believed to be the first class-action lawsuit over the faulty Prius brakes, which would add to legal troubles Toyota faces over the accelerator problems.
The company is pulling roughly 223,000 hybrid vehicles in Japan and about 147,500 in the United States due to a problem with the anti-lock braking system, in a recall that also extends to Europe and other markets.
The move covers the newest petrol-electric Prius as well as the plug-in Prius, the Sai sedan and the Lexus HS250h. It will suspend sales in Japan of the Sai and Lexus HS250h while it develops a fix for those vehicles.
Drivers "can experience reduced braking performance resulting in increased braking distance", the automaker said in a statement.
The Prius is the world's most popular hybrid, beloved by Hollywood stars and environmentalists alike, and its troubles are a major setback to Toyota's efforts to stay in pole position in fuel-efficient automobiles.
Favoured by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Britain's Prince Charles, nearly 1.5 million Prius vehicles had been sold in 40 countries as of August 31.
The Japanese maker has said it redesigned the anti-lock braking system for Prius cars produced since last month.
It says a delay occurs when the vehicle switches to the conventional hydraulic brake from regenerative braking, used by hybrids to capture the energy of the car's motion to recharge the battery for its electric motor.
The brake trouble comes on top of recalls of more than eight million vehicles worldwide due to sticking gas pedals that have been blamed for a number of fiery crashes, some deadly.
The group has denied it was slow to act on the safety problems. But Toyoda was publicly rebuked by Japan's transport minister, who said the company should have been quicker to recall vehicles with a brake flaw.
"I wish you had taken measures earlier rather than simply saying it was not a major technical problem," Seiji Maehara told Toyoda in front of reporters.
Earlier in the day, the Toyota boss denied the company had become overly complacent as it overtook General Motors to take the global pole position.
"I don't think Toyota is an almighty company. We are confident that we've been making improvements when we spotted a failure or defect to provide better products. We will continue this attitude in the future," he said.
The company received a US report of a sticky gas pedal on a Tundra pick-up truck in 2007 but said it was unable to pinpoint the cause.
Toyota has said it expects the gas pedal-related recalls alone to cost it about two billion US dollars in recall expenses and lost sales. But analysts warn the bigger impact could be to its reputation in the long term.
The credit rating firm Moody's said that it had put Toyota on review for a possible downgrade, warning that the auto giant's worldwide recalls "may significantly damage" its brand image.
- AFP/ir
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