By Harumi Ozawa
Agence France-Presse
Toyota, reeling from car safety woes that have sullied its global reputation, will announce this week the recall of 300,000 of its flagship Prius hybrid because of brake flaws, newspapers reported Sunday.
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 program for the anti-lock braking system designed to prevent skidding, is expected to affect some 270,000 vehicles in Japan and the United States 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 United States 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 for comments.
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 had originally considered a voluntary repair for the problem, which the company said is not a fundamental defect, but decided on a recall to try to regain customer trust, the Yomiuri newspaper and Kyodo News reported.
Problems can be fixed at Toyota dealerships in less than an hour, media reports said, adding that units manufactured in January and after already have the updated software.
Toyota came under fire after it said it had fixed the Prius brake system last month 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 malfunctions and called for an investigation, while Toyota has separately received more than 100 complaints since the crisis broke.
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