Toyota said yesterday it will soon announce a plan for dealing with braking problems in its Prius hybrid amid reports that the world’s largest automaker plans to issue a recall for the latest model of the vehicle in Japan.
Toyota Motor Corp has already had to recall more 7 million other cars in the US, Europe and China over a sticky accelerator and floor mats that can get caught in the gas pedal. Those problems and criticism of Toyota’s response to them have sullied the stellar reputation for quality long enjoyed by the world’s biggest automaker.
Separately, the company has told dealers in the US it is preparing to repair the brakes on thousands of Prius vehicles there, according to an e-mail sent by a company executive. It was unclear whether Toyota planned a formal US recall.
“We will make an announcement soon on the action we plan to take,” spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said, commenting on media reports that the company has decided to issue a Japan recall.
Takeuchi did not confirm the reports.
Toyota decided on Saturday on a recall in Japan covering its latest Prius model and has notified domestic dealers, Japan’s largest newspaper, the Yomiuri, reported without naming sources. It said Toyota would announce the move early this week after consulting with the Japanese government. Japan’s Kyodo News agency and TV Asahi carried similar reports. Kyodo said at least 170,000 vehicles in Japan would be subject to the recall.
The brake problem affects about 270,000 Priuses that were sold in the US and Japan starting last May.
The company blames a software glitch and says it has already fixed vehicles that went on sale since last month.
Bob Carter, a Toyota group vice president, sent an e-mail message on Friday night to US dealers saying the automaker is working on a Prius repair plan and will disclose more details early this week. At least 100 drivers of Prius cars in the US have complained to the government that their brakes seemed to fail momentarily when they were driving on bumpy roads. The government says the problem is suspected in four crashes and two minor injuries.
Public awareness of the problem “has prompted considerable customer concern, speculation, and media attention due to the significance of the Prius image,” Carter said in the e-mail. “We want to assure our dealers that we are moving rapidly to provide a solution for your existing customers.”
Toyota has acknowledged receiving dozens of complaints about the Prius in Japan.
There is high-level government concern in Japan about Toyota’s quality problems. Cabinet ministers have expressed alarm and urged the company to move more quickly to ease consumer worries.
Media criticism of Toyota has intensified since a news conference on Friday by Toyota President Akio Toyoda in which he offered an apology for the defects, but few details about what the automaker would do about the Prius.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS