Company president Akio Toyoda was scheduled to address the Prius issue at 0630 GMT in only his second news conference since the overall recall crisis went global nearly two weeks ago.The company's troubles escalated with a new lawsuit in the United States failed by a California woman who alleges her Prius has severe braking problems which make it dangerous to drive.
Lawyers for the plaintiff are pursuing what is believed to be the first class-action lawsuit over the faulty Prius brakes, which would add to legal trouble facing Toyota over the accelerator problems. Related article: California woman sues Toyota over Prius brakes
The Japanese maker has said it redesigned the anti-lock braking system for Prius cars produced since last month.
It says a delay occurs when the vehicle switches to the conventional hydraulic brake from regenerative braking, used by hybrids to capture the energy of the car's motion to recharge the battery for its electric motor.
Customers have reported problems with the braking when driving at slow speeds, on slippery roads, or over potholes and bumps, Jim Lentz, president of Toyota's US sales arm, said in an interview with news-sharing website Digg.com. Related article: Toyota dealers pull ads from US TV network
"Exactly what the solution's going to be I can't tell you but I can assure you that we're going to do whatever's necessary," he said.
"We are working on a solution and we hope to have a solution for that very soon."
The group has denied it was slow to act on the safety problems. Lentz said the company received a report of a sticky gas pedal on a Tundra pick-up truck in 2007 but was unable to pinpoint the cause. Related article: 2007 reports over Toyota Tundra pedal
The accelerator problems have been blamed for several accidents, including one in California in August in which four family members were killed.
Toyota said it had resumed production in North America of several models whose sales were suspended over the accelerator issue. Related article: Toyota recall raises questions about computerized cars
But Toyota will halt production of the Sai and Lexus HS250h hybrids for at least one week in Japan due to the brake problems, and may also suspend sales of the models, the Nikkei business daily reported.
The trouble comes on top of recalls of more than eight million vehicles worldwide due to sticking gas pedals that have severely dented the image of the company, which overtook General Motors in 2008 to become world number one.
The recalls affect more than Toyota's entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 million vehicles.
Toyota's North America president, Yoshimi Inaba, is set to testify at a US congressional hearing on Wednesday as part of a wider probe by lawmakers.
President Toyoda said Friday he was "deeply sorry" for the string of quality issues and said he would head a new task force to raise standards and investigate the cause of the problems.
