Vowing To Regain Customers' Faith, Toyota Adds Some 2010 Prius Vehicles To Recall

Toyota has taken the expected next step in responding to problems with some of its vehicles — recalling "about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems," as the Associated Press writes.

The company's statement about recalls in the U.S. says:

It will conduct a voluntary safety recall on approximately 133,000 2010 Model Year Prius vehicles and 14,500 Lexus Division 2010 HS 250h vehicles to update software in the vehicle's anti-lock brake system (ABS). No other Toyota, Lexus, or Scion vehicles are involved in this recall.

The ABS, in normal operation, engages and disengages rapidly (many times per second) as the control system senses and reacts to tire slippage. Some 2010 model year Prius and 2010 HS 250h owners have reported experiencing inconsistent brake feel during slow and steady application of brakes on rough or slick road surfaces when the ABS is activated in an effort to maintain tire traction.

Toyota has also recalled several million vehicles that have had problems with sticky accelerators (details about which models here). On Morning Edition, NPR's Louisa Lim reported from Tokyo on the carmaker's latest announcement:

Also on Morning Edition, NPR's Wendy Kaufman reported about what experts say Toyota must do to regain customers' trust:

One thing Toyota has done is put an ad, called Commitment, on national TV. "In recent days our company hasn't been living up to the standards that you've come to expect form us," the narrator says, before going on to say Toyota is taking steps — the recalls and others — to "restore your faith."

And in today's Washington Post, company President Akio Toyoda wrote in an op-ed that:

Great companies learn from their mistakes, and we know that we have to win back the trust of our customers by adhering to the very values on which that trust was first built. The hundreds of thousands of men and women at Toyota operations worldwide — including the 172,000 team members and dealers in North America — are among the best in the auto industry. Whatever problems have occurred within our company, the strength and commitment to fix them resides within our company as well.