Toyota May Start Prius Recalls

Toyota also intends to take similar steps in the U.S. and other overseas markets with the popular gas-electric hybrid cars, the person said.

The move goes a step further than the company was willing to announce Friday, when chief executive Akio Toyoda said the company was looking into complaints about the Prius, but hadn't yet decided what to do.

A Toyota spokesman in Japan Sunday said only the company was continuing to study the problem but declined to comment on any possible responses.

The Prius fix is unrelated to the sudden-acceleration problems that have badly tarnished the company's image over the past few weeks, prompting a global recall of 8.1 million vehicles, at a potential cost of up to $2 billion, due to gas pedal and floor mat problems.

By comparison, the Prius fix affects a relatively small number of vehicles--the company has sold 311,000 units of the affected third-generation versions of the hybrid--and hasn't had the kind of serious safety complaints that have hit other models. The problem, and the fix, affect only the latest model-year Priuses and don't seem to have emerged on earlier versions of the car, though the company has said it is still checking other models.

But doubts over the safety of the world's most popular hybrid could further damage Toyota's sales and brand image. The Prius has been central to Toyota's campaign to create an image of an environmentally friendly company, and is the company's most popular model in its home market of Japan. Prius sales in Japan in January jumped nearly fourfold to 22,306 vehicles, making the hybrid the best selling car for the eighth straight month, according to data by Japan Automobile Dealers' Association released Thursday.

Officials said that, unlike with the sudden acceleration problem, the Prius brake problem won't require a halt in production. The company said it has already determined the cause of the problem, and in late January rewrote the software program to improve the Prius's braking system. The Prius cars assembled since then all carry the modified version of the software in their braking systems.

Toyota has said that Prius brakes were sometimes slow to respond when drivers kept lightly pressing them. When the automatic braking system is enabled on certain road conditions, the car switches from one system of braking--regenerative braking, designed to capture energy to help power the car--to the conventional hydraulic braking system. The brief time lag between the two braking systems results in cars stopping a little later than the drivers expected.

The person familiar with Toyota's plans said the company would likely "take action early this week" to fix the Priuses.

Toyota has already informed dealers in Japan of the problem and cause. Another person said the new customer services to owners of the newest Prius models would start as soon as Monday and would take 20-30 minutes each to rewrite the software program.

An official at one of Toyota dealerships in Tokyo said it has not received a formal notice from Toyota, while two other dealerships declined to comment.

Japanese Transport Minister Seiji Maehara Friday put pressure on Toyota to act more decisively. "I heard from [ministry] officials that they will conduct either a recall or [voluntary repair] service campaign," Mr. Maehara said. "Whether the issue is big or not, it should be decided by [auto] users...I think Toyota's response somewhat lacks the customers' viewpoint."