January 2010

After about 200 owners complained of braking delays in popular Toyota hybrid vehicles, the motor corporation recalled a total of 437,000 of its most popular units, including some of its top-selling Priuses. The recall affected vehicles in the United States, Japan, and Europe.

Of the 223,000 vehicles recalled in Japan, nearly 200,000 were Prius hybrids, sold from April to May of 2009. The Prius is Japan's top-selling car. This recall has greatly damaged the relation between Toyota and Japanese consumers, who have, up until this point, counted upon the popular Toyota Hybrid's stability and reliability.

In the U.S., Toyota recalled 133,000 Prius cars and 14,500 Lexus HS250s vehicles. Approximately 53,000 Priuses were recalled in Europe as well.

Toyota insists that the braking delays can be fixed within 40 minutes with the installation of new ABS software that will oversee the controls of the antilock brakes. Toyota's reputation, which has suffered major blows since complaints began in 2003, might not recover so easily. Speculation reports that this latest Toyota recall may aid Korea's Hyundai Motor Corporation, which is scheduled to launch its first hybrid later this year.