Toyota to file recalls over Prius brakes both in U.S. and Japan

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NAGOYA, Feb. 8 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. is set to file recalls over brake problems with its latest
Prius hybrid in both the United States and Japan, in a move that will affect
more than 270,000 vehicles, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
The Japanese automaker plans to report the recall to the Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism Ministry as early as Tuesday and promptly file similar
proceedings in the United States, the sources said.
Toyota is also considering filing recalls over other hybrid models, such as the
luxury Lexus HS250h sedan and the hybrid-only Sai compact sedan, which employ a
similar brake system to the Prius gas-electric hybrid, the sources said.
The world's biggest automaker has apparently decided it needs to act promptly
to address growing complaints over its best-selling hybrid model with criticism
already mounting about its response to a recent spate of quality issues,
including a massive global recall over faulty gas pedals in some of its other
vehicles.
The planned recalls would affect about 100,000 units in the United States and
around 170,000 units in Japan. The model was released last May in Japan and in
June in the United States.
The automaker has sold more than 300,000 units of the Prius in about 60
countries and regions, and plans to gradually implement recalls outside of
Japan and the United States as well.
Once the recalls are official, Prius owners will be able to take their vehicles
to nearby dealers where the problems will be fixed by improving the software
for the antilock brake system. The procedure itself is expected to take from
less than half an hour to up to around two hours.
The software for the repair has already arrived at some Toyota dealers in Japan.
''Once the recall is announced, we are prepared to open on our regular holidays
to respond (to our customers),'' a manager of a dealership in Fukushima
Prefecture said.
Regarding the other hybrid models, Toyota has sold about 18,000 units of the
Lexus HS250h worldwide and about 7,000 units of the Sai in Japan.
Because the new software for carrying out the repair has not been completed for
the HS250h and the Sai, Toyota suspended shipping the vehicles on Monday, the
sources said.
The plug-in Prius hybrid, which was leased to government and corporate clients
on a limited basis from late last year, is also expected to be subject to the
recall, the sources said.
The plug-in version, which can be charged using household electricity, can
travel for short distances in electric mode using power generated by lithium
ion batteries. Once the battery power runs out, it can travel medium and long
distances as a conventional hybrid.
Toyota officials had said following complaints about the temporary failure of
Prius brakes to work properly that there was no serious defect and had sought
to fix the brakes on a voluntary basis under what they dubbed a ''service
campaign.''
But the automaker has received a flood of complaints from owners, pressuring
Toyota to opt for a more binding recall measure both in Japan and the United
States.
''We had to protect our brand value at any cost,'' a senior Toyota official said.
The third-generation Prius, which grabbed the headlines last year with a
starting retail price of 2.05 million yen, quickly became a best seller in
Japan on the back of government incentives for energy-saving cars and took the
No. 1 slot for the whole of 2009, including previous Prius models.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Toyota has begun to resume temporarily sales
of eight models, including the popular Camry and Corolla vehicles, following
last week's announcement of a remedy for faulty accelerator pedals.
The automaker also resumed production of the eight models in five plants in
North America following a one-week suspension over a recall of about 2.21
million vehicles in the United States. The recall has since spread to Europe,
China, Latin America and other parts of the world.
==Kyodo
2010-02-08 23:25:14