Toyota recalls Prius, other hybrids over brakes

The world's largest automaker is under fire for two other recalls covering more than 8 million vehicles worldwide due to problems with slipping floormats and sticky accelerator pedals.

It is also facing a potential rush of litigation for crashes linked to those problems and blamed for 19 deaths and numerous injuries in the United States over the past decade.

Chastised by U.S. safety authorities and members of the Obama administration for moving too slowly on those recalls, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said he never believed the company was infallible but it had always tried to repair defects swiftly.

"Let me assure everyone that we will redouble our commitment to quality as a lifeline of our company," Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, told a news conference in Tokyo, first in Japanese then in English.

"With myself taking the lead, and by keeping to the "genchi genbutsu" principle, all of us at Toyota will tackle the issue in close cooperation with dealers and with suppliers together, we will do everything in our power to regain the confidence of our customers."

Genchi genbutsu, meaning "go and see," is one of the five principles invoked in Toyota's management and production philosophy -- one of the most studied and copied in the world.

GLOBAL RECALL

Toyota said it was recalling a total of 437,000 units of its 2010 Prius, Sai, Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid), and Lexus HS250h hybrids globally. The recall covers 155,000 vehicles in North America, 223,000 in Japan, 53,000 in Europe and 5,000 elsewhere.

"Toyota has been, beyond any doubts, the top player in hybrid car segment, and the fact that Prius and other hybrid models will be part of this massive recall significantly dents its image," said Suh Sung-moon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities in Seoul.