WASHINGTON/DETROIT, (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp, already reeling from two massive recalls, faced the possibility of a third when U.S. safety regulators opened a probe yesterday into a braking problem on the Prius, the world’s top-selling hybrid.
The probe of the Prius, which has powered Toyota’s image of fuel efficiency, compounds a safety crisis that has hit its sales, financial results and reputation for quality and prompted the recall of more than 8 million vehicles around the world for problems with uncontrolled acceleration.
Separately, Ford Motor Co said it would roll out a software patch for consumers to address a reported problem with braking on its hybrid Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan models. ID:nN0497845
Analysts and rivals say the Prius has emerged as a kind of environmental “halo car” for Toyota, an icon of green design with an intense following among loyalists, which has lifted the public image of the whole company.
The Nikkei newspaper reported that Toyota would recall an estimated 270,000 units of its new Prius in the United States and Japan to fix the brake problem.
Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said he could not comment on that report. He said the automaker had no plans to suspend sales of the Prius as it did with eight other models recalled for a faulty accelerator pedal.
Like the more popular Prius, the Ford hybrids capture the energy from braking to recharge an on-board battery to boost mileage from its gasoline engine.
Ford said its software fix would address the way the traditional brakes and the regenerative braking systems interact. The same broad set of issues affects the Prius.
Ford’s action came after Consumer Reports said one of its test engineers had experienced what appeared to be a loss of braking power with a Fusion hybrid.
Ford said it was aware of one minor accident related to the braking problem but no injuries.
Ford shares were ended almost 5 percent lower yesterday. Shares of Toyota dropped another 2.3 percent in New York yesterday. The stock has lost 20 percent since it announced a sweeping recall for accelerator problems in late January. The recall has also wiped $30 billion from Toyota’s share value.
