Toyota Motor Corp., will recall around 436,000 hybrid cars worldwide, including the 2010 Prius model, Reuters is reporting. A press conference has been scheduled in Tokyo to announce the carmaker’s plans.
The international news agency has obtained a document that details 223,068 cars in Japan across four hybrid models — the newest Prius model, the Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid), the SAI and the Lexus HS250h — will be recalled for the braking problems first reported last week.
The Prius, the world’s largest selling hybrid, accounts for 199,666 vehicles recalled. Toyota will also recall about 213,000 other hybrid cars, including about 150,000 in North America, according to the document.
Reuters is also reporting Japan’s transport ministry said Toyota President Akio Toyoda has a pending meeting with Minister Seiji Maehara when he’s expected to apologize for a series of recalls spanning the globe.
Mr. Toyoda, grandson of the company founder, has also written an op-ed piece for the Washington Post, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
In his article, Toyoda says he has spoken to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He writes he will give his “personal assurance that the lines of communications with safety agencies and regulators will be kept open.”
Toyota “will be more vigilant in responding to those officials on all matters,” Mr. Toyoda added in his article, scheduled for publication Feb. 9.
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