Toyota informs Japan dealerships 300,000 Prius models worldwide will be recalled

Toyota Motor Corp., has notified its dealers in Japan the carmaker will recall 300,000 Prius hybrid vehicles, the world’s largest-selling hybrid, because of brake flaws. Newspapers in Japan reported the pending recall of 2010 models in Sunday, Feb. 7 editions.

The move comes in the aftermath of Toyota recently recalling eight million cars around the world because of sticky accelerator pedals.

The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported an anti-lock braking system designed to prevent skidding is problematic and is expected to affect 270,000 vehicles in Japan and the United States. The Nikkei business daily said Toyota would also repair about 30,000 vehicles sold in Europe, China, Australia, Middle East and other areas.

According to sources not named by Japanese newspapers, “The company will repair the software free of charge in the United States and other countries in a similar manner.”

Toyota’s formal announcement is expected within days.

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, Yomiuri and Kyodo News reported.

According to an Agence France Presse (AFP), the Prius brake problems can be fixed at Toyota dealerships in less than an hour

Toyota, which in 2008 dethroned General Motors as the world’s biggest car maker, produced 530,000 hybrids in 2009, spanning 15 models from sport utility vehicles to sedans, mini-vans and the luxury Lexus series.