Mass Toyota Prius recall
Toyota says it will recall hundreds of thousands of hybrid vehicles, including the best-selling Prius, over safety fears. The world's largest automaker is pulling some 8.7 million vehicles around the world, which is more cars than its entire global sales for 2009.
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Toyota is facing a huge number of complaints over the safety of its vehicles, ranging from unintended acceleration to brake failure. The problems have plunged the company into crisis as it faces an increasing number of lawsuits in the US.
In another heavy blow to its brand image, which rests on reliability and quality, Toyota is now recalling 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles, in order to repair a flaw in the braking system.
The company earlier announced a recall of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide due to sticking accelerator pedals that were blamed for several accidents.
The braking problem centres of the delay when the vehicle switches to the conventional hydraulic break from regenerative braking. This form of brake uses the energy of the car's motion to recharge the battery for its electric motor.
Toyota says it has redesigned the anti-lock braking system on cars produced since last month.
The Prius is the world's most popular hybrid car, favoured by Hollywood stars and environmentalists for its fuel efficiency. Nearly 1.5 million vehicles had been sold in 40 countries since the end of August.
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