Toyota CEO and president said that Toyota feels ashamed about the recent recalls of its vehicles now affecting nearly nine million cars.

Prius and Lexus Brake Recall

The most recent recall involves 437,000 Prius and Lexus 2010 hybrid models with a software glitch that affects the brakes, Toyota president Akio Toyoda acknowledged that “people think we were slow to respond.” The first recall announced Tuesday related to a software problem that controls the antilock braking system includes the 2010 model Prius and Lexus HS250h in North America. Toyota spokesperson Ririko Takeuchi said that 155,000 vehicles will be recalled in North America including 139,000 3rd generation Prius and 16,000 Lexus models. In Japan, four hybrid models will be recalled – the 2010 Prius, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, the Sai model sold in Japan and the Lexus HS250h. The latter three models were introduced in the country last year.

Camry Brake Recall

In its second recall in one day, Toyota announced Tuesday that it plans to recall just over 7,300 2010 Camrys for a brake defect. The problem, if not fixed, could result in leaking brake fluid, and make it more difficult for a driver to stop the car. The issue with the Camrys, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is a power steering hose that is too long and can rub up against a tube for the left rear brake. That could cause the brake tube to wear through, leading to a leak of brake fluid. Toyota says the problem was discovered during an inspection and it hasn’t seen evidence of this happening on the road. The automaker says that Camry owners will get recall notices in mid-March and that all fixes should be done by the end of March.

Corolla Steering Complaints Being Investigated

Also today, NHTSA said it is reviewing a number of complaints about the steering on 2009-2010 Toyota Corollas. In a statement, the government said this is standard procedure with complaints and that as of yet, no official investigation has been opened.

Sticking Gas Pedals and Floor Mat Problems

Toyota is still dealing with its recall of more than 7 million vehicles in the United States in recent months to address what it acknowledges are two acceleration-related issues:

1. Reports of uncontrolled acceleration in its cars, and

2. Gas pedals that can stick or fail to spring back properly.

Since 2003, the company has received reports of more than 2,000 accidents and 19 deaths tied to the acceleration problem. The recall affects the following vehicles:

• 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry,
• 2004-2009 Toyota Prius,
• 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon,
• 2005-2010 Tacoma,
• 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra,
• 2007-2010 Lexus ES 350 and
• 2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350.

Congressional Investigation

Toyota is not getting a free ride from Congress on its slow response to this defect. NHTSA and Congressional investigators want to know why the Japanese car company waited at least a month to inform its customers and government agencies of the braking problem, well after it had introduced a fix to the software in cars being manufactured.

Still dodging the questions, Toyota’s CEO told reporters he “did not recall the exact month and day” when the company first learned of the brake problem with the Prius, only indicating that Toyota was aware of the problem sometime “this year.” Meanwhile, at the press conference, Toyota president Akio Toyoda was asked if his company had withheld safety information from U.S. regulators. Toyoda answered in Japanese. “As a company, our intention is to sincerely give 100 percent cooperation,” said Toyoda. “We want to make our best effort to deal with this matter for our customers’ security and safety.” ABC News reported Thursday that former government regulators working for Toyota in the U.S. had met and negotiated with government safety officials prior to investigations of safety issues with Toyota, and that the ensuing investigations were very narrow in scope. A former Toyota lawyer also told ABC News that the automaker had tried to hide safety problems from consumers, which Toyota denies.

Still struggling to get control of the unintended acceleration problems with its Toyota and Lexus vehicles, Toyota is now dealing with reports that its 2010 Prius hybrid vehicles have a defective braking system.

Reports of the brake failures appeared as early as August when Japan’s Land and Transport Ministry began receiving reports from drivers who had experienced brake failure while driving their Priuses over bumpy roads or on slippery surfaces. Toyota is currently investigating a total of 85 complaints relating to incidents in which Prius brakes have intermittently stopped working. Toyota also admitted yesterday that there were 13 more incidents that had arisen over the past two months which was a “greater than usual” number of reported incidents.

The problem with the brakes is being described by some as a complete failure of the brakes to engage for a period of time, perhaps as long as a few seconds, even though the operator has the brake pedal fully depressed. Toyota’s investigation into the Prius brakes is thought to be focused on the computer that links together the two separate braking systems at the heart of the model’s groundbreaking hybrid technology. The car is slowed down by a combination of traditional mechanical brakes and the electromagnetic resistance that recharges the batteries. The fact that problem may be in the design of the electrical system is important as the technology was developed and designed by Toyota itself and not its suppliers. As a result, Toyota will be hard pressed to blame its suppliers for the brake failures in the way it is trying to do with the problems it is having with its other vehicles that are experiencing unintended accelleration issues.

Toyota’s handling of this defect issue with the Prius as well as the defects with its other models involving unintended accelleration issues are calling into question Toyota’s credibility and the quality of its products. Toyota is being criticized for developing a corporate mentality of denying responsibility and responding slowly to safety issues to avoid negative publicity, and trying to blame the problems of unintended accelleration on its suppliers of component parts.

While Toyota is not ready to admit that its Prius vehicles have a brake defect, saying last week that it was “still confirming the facts” surrounding the brake failure claims, Toyota’s actions appear to be inconsistent with that statement. For over a month, Toyota has been modifying its production lines to address the brake problem. For over a month, Toyota has been fixing the problem with new vehicles before they are sold. In addition, the company has been providing emergency fixes for Japanese Prius owners who have complained of brake troubles. However, Toyota has not notified its customers who own the affected vehicles of the reports of brake failure problems or issued any recall notices yet.

Toyota, is holding a press conference about the brakes today, but Toyota has not announced whether it has decided to issue a recall of Priuses. Toyota is obviously feeling pressure to do something in light of all of its recent public black eye. The US Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, said that he planned to call Akio Toyoda, the Toyota President, “and explain to him that this is serious business”. Meanwhile, Masayuki Naoshima, the Japanese Minister for Trade, summoned Toyota’s head of quality control, Shinichi Sasaki, to a meeting last night. Mr Naoshima later said: “there is a small computer inside the brake and Toyota is making adjustments and improvements.”

While Toyota is considering what steps it is willing to take, the real issue needs to be the focus on customer safety.