Are Toyota cars safe?

Toyota to recall Prius vehicles, reports say | News.com.au

TOYOTA will this week announce the recall of 300,000 of its flagship Prius hybrid because of brake flaws, reports said today.

The move by the Japanese auto giant will affect the latest model of the Prius, a car beloved of Hollywood stars and environmentalists, following scores of complaints about malfunctioning brake systems.

The Prius problems have dealt a new blow to Toyota, which has already had to recall around eight million cars around the world because of sticky accelerator pedals.

The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said the Prius recall, to repair a software programme for the anti-lock braking system designed to prevent skidding, is expected to affect some 270,000 vehicles in Japan and the US alone.

"The company has notified its dealers in Japan that it would recall all the (new model Prius) vehicles sold in the country," the mass-circulation paper said, without giving a source.


"The company will also repair the software free of charge in the US and other countries in a similar manner," Yomiuri said, adding that the company would make an official announcement this week.

The Nikkei business daily said Toyota would also repair about 30,000 vehicles sold in Europe, China, Australia, Middle East and other areas.

"We've been told the automaker will soon give us an official instruction about Prius," said a Toyota dealer in Tokyo.

Company representatives were not available to confirm the reports.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has sold more than 300,000 of the latest Prius in 60 countries and territories since the new model rolled out in May.

Toyota has come under fresh fire after it said it had fixed the Prius brake system in January without warning drivers who already own the model about the possibility of brake failure.

Japan's transport ministry reportedly received about 80 complaints this month about brake system malfunctions and called for an investigation, while Toyota has separately received more than 100 complaints since the crisis broke.

Local media have said that five cases reported to the government relate to crashes in which the brakes malfunctioned, according to the drivers.

The Prius – which combines a petrol combustion engine with a battery-powered electric motor – is Toyota's flagship hybrid car and key to its efforts to stay in pole position in fuel-efficient vehicles.

"We are contacting our customers directly by visiting or making phone calls to apologise about the issue," said another Tokyo dealer.

Toyota, which dethroned General Motors in 2008 as the world's biggest automaker, produced 530,000 hybrids in 2009, spanning 15 models from sport utility vehicles to sedans, mini-vans and the luxury Lexus series.

The company has come under heavy fire for its handling of massive recalls affecting about eight million vehicles worldwide – more than its entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 million vehicles – due to accelerator trouble.

The accelerator problems have been blamed for several accidents, including an incident in California in August in which four family members were killed when their Lexus sedan sped up on a highway and crashed.

A US class-action lawsuit against Toyota has alleged the Japanese automaker hid problems that have led to the rash of recalls and is seeking compensation for car owners .

Company president Akio Toyoda said Friday he was "deeply sorry" for the string of quality issues and said he would head a new task force to raise standards and investigate the cause of the problems.

"Believe me, Toyota cars are safe," he said.

But Japanese newspapers have lashed out at Toyota's slow response to the fiasco and warned it could hurt the country's hard-won reputation for trustworthy technology.

"Toyota as a global manufacturer has much greater influence than the company management estimates," the Mainichi newspaper said.

"Expectations about the company and its products are also much greater than they may appreciate."