Toyota is investigating whether its Lexus luxury hybrids have the same braking problem as the newest Prius model, although it has not received any customer complaints, a spokeswoman said yesterday.
Toyota said on Thursday it had redesigned the anti-lock braking system (ABS) for the new Prius and would soon announce safety measures for those already on the road.
It said when the ABS was in operation, there was a small delay switching from regenerative braking — which captures the energy of the car’s motion to recharge the battery — to the hydraulic brake.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Other Lexus hybrids, such as the HS250h sedan, use the same brake system as the Prius, as does the Toyota Sai luxury hybrid sedan.
“We are checking protectively they do not have the same problem as the Prius,” Toyota spokeswoman Mieko Iwasaki said, adding that the firm has not received any reports of brake trouble with Lexus vehicles.
The Nikkei Shimbun said that Toyota had also decided to recall an estimated 270,000 Prius cars in Japan and the US to fix the brake problem.
Toyota, which overtook General Motors in 2008 as the top-selling automaker, has been bedeviled by a series of safety issues that have raised questions about whether it sacrificed its legendary quality to become world No. 1.
The company is pulling about 8 million vehicles worldwide — roughly its entire global sales figure last year — to fix a separate problem with accelerator pedals that are slow to spring back or that stick to floor mats.
The gas pedal problems have been blamed for several accidents.
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