Toyota Motor Corp., grappling with record U.S. recalls, said it told U.S. dealers to expect an update early this week on steps the company plans to take to address complaints over brakes on the 2010 model Prius hybrid.
"We notified dealers in a short letter yesterday that we believe we'll have more specific information on our plans for Prius next week," John Hanson, a spokesman for Toyota's U.S. sales unit, said yesterday. "We know dealers have customers coming to them who are concerned and we're trying to give them as much information as we can, as fast as we can."
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, didn't tell dealers it will make a formal "announcement" on a fix for Prius and hasn't yet determined whether a recall is necessary, he said.
Should the Toyota City, Japan-based company recall the latest version of Prius, the world's best-selling hybrid car, it would add to the perception of quality problems at Toyota. The company has already recalled 5.6 million cars and light trucks in the U.S. since November to correct flaws linked to unintended acceleration, an issue Toyota says isn't connected to Prius brakes.
Japan's Nikkei newswire reported that Toyota would recall 270,000 Priuses in Japan and the U.S. to correct software in the braking system. Toyota hasn't confirmed that report.
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