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Toyota Motor Corp said Tuesday it will recall about 437,000 vehicles worldwide to repair brake problems in its best-selling Prius and three other hybrid models, in a fresh blow to the automaker’s brand strength as a pioneer in green technology.

Other models subject to the recall are the luxury Lexus HS250h sedan, the hybrid-only Sai compact sedan, and the plug-in Prius hybrid, which employ a similar brake system to the Prius, the ministry said.

‘‘I apologize again for causing trouble and concern to many people over the quality and safety of Toyota vehicles,’’ Toyota President Akio Toyoda said at a news conference in Tokyo, offering his second apology in less than a week to address a recent string of safety troubles.

‘‘We decided to implement the recalls in order to put top priority on our customers driving safely,’’ he said.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said the recall of 223,068 vehicles in Japan was to address a glitch in the vehicles’ antilock brake system, which causes a momentary lag in brake functions when driving slowly on bumpy or slippery roads.

The world’s largest automaker will also recall about 139,000 Prius vehicles in the United States, 53,000 in Europe and about 5,000 units in other areas.

‘‘We will do everything in our power to regain confidence of our customers,’’ Toyoda added in English. ‘‘Let me assure everyone that we will redouble our commitment to quality as a lifeline of our company.’‘

The remedy involves improving the software for the vehicle’s antilock brake system, the part that prevents the wheels from slipping.

Until the fix is completed, Toyoda urged drivers to push hard on the brakes and emphasized the vehicle will stop going forward if that step is taken.

The repair can be completed at a Toyota dealer in a process that will take around 40 minutes, the company said in a statement.

Toyota will directly notify vehicle owners through phone or e-mail and begin fixing the Prius model from Wednesday, the automaker said.

But for the three other models, the software to fix the problems has not been completed so sales of the Lexus HS250h, the Sai, and the plug-in Prius hybrid are expected to be temporarily halted until late February or early March, a transport ministry official said.

The transport ministry said it has received about 94 complaints on brake problems with the new Prius from Feb 1 to midnight Monday. According to the papers Toyota filed, it reported 84 complaints and no related accidents.

The third-generation Prius model was rolled out in Japan last May and has become a top-selling model on the back of government stimulus measures for energy-saving vehicles.

Toyota has sold about 18,000 units of the Lexus HS250h worldwide and about 7,000 units of the Sai in Japan. The plug-in Prius hybrid, which can be charged using household electricity, has been leased to government and corporate clients on a limited basis from late last year.

The recall of the Prius will be the latest safety trouble to dog the Japanese automaker, which last month filed for a recall of about 2.21 million vehicles in the United States to fix faulty accelerator pedals that can get stuck in a partially depressed position.

The pedal-linked recall, which includes the popular Camry and Corolla models, could ultimately reach about 4.45 million vehicles as it spreads worldwide to Europe, China, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Toyota has also carried out a safety recall from November of some 5.55 million vehicles in North America to fix gas pedals getting stuck under loose floor mats, potentially causing sudden acceleration.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 4:42 am and is filed under Toyota Recall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.