Already reeling from a public-relations fiasco over a recall of its cars with faulty accelerators, embattled Toyota Motors now says there are problems with the brakes on its Prius hybrid.
Toyota is a pioneer in hybrid cars and any new question marks over the safety of the Prius could deal a major setback to its efforts to recover from massive recalls and heavy losses inflicted by the global economic crisis.
"As of the end of last year, we had dozens of complaints from dealers in Japan and North America," Toyota spokeswoman Mieko Iwasaki said.
The automaker is investigating the reports, which involve the new Prius model rolled out last year, she added.
Japan's transport ministry said it had received at least 13 complaints about Prius brakes in the two months to January alone.
Another Prius driver complained that his brakes failed last July, leading to a collision that slightly injured two people, a ministry official said.
Recall over brake defect
"Many complaints were submitted in a short period of time. We are investigating the cases to determine what measures the ministry should take," the official said, without ruling out the possibility of a recall.
US safety officials said they are also investigating a number of complaints about a potential defect affecting the Prius brake system.
"If we have reason to believe there is a safety risk, we will take all necessary steps to protect consumers," said Olivia Alair, spokeswoman for the department of transportation.
Meanwhile, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stepped up his pressure on the Japanese automaker a day after accusing Toyota of dragging its feet on the recall.
LaHood caused a brief panic when he told a congressional panel that owners of millions of Toyota vehicles affected by the defect which causes sudden, unintended acceleration should "stop driving" them.
He later sought to tone down his remarks, telling reporters: "What I meant to say and what I thought I said was if you own one of these cars or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer and they're going to fix it."
But he insisted that safety officials "will continue to hold Toyota's feet to the fire" and said he wanted to speak directly to Toyota Motor chief executive Akio Toyoda about the problems.
Toyota shares hit
LaHood repeated that his agency was studying the possibility of civil penalties on Toyota for safety violations - which could mean fines of millions of dollars - and will "continue to investigate all possible causes of these safety issues."
Toyota shares were down 5.3 per cent to $US74.03 in afternoon trade after dropping to a low of $US71.90 following LaHood's comments.
Investors were also concerned by the reports of problems with the Prius, as well as figures showing a sharp drop in the automaker's US sales in January.
"Hybrid cars are almost the only cars selling well now in Japan and the US. If (the Prius) has a serious problem, that will have a strong impact on Toyota's performance," said Tatsuya Mizuno, analyst at Mizuno Credit Advisory.
Prius cars made between 2004 and 2009 are among the models being recalled due to the risk of the accelerator pedal getting trapped in the fully open position by the floor mat.
The Japanese giant, which overtook General Motors in 2008 as the top-selling automaker, has been hit by a series of safety issues that have dented its coveted reputation as a producer of safe and reliable vehicles.
'Bad software' claim
The company is recalling almost eight million vehicles worldwide - roughly equivalent to its entire 2009 global sales - due to problems with accelerator pedals that could cause the car to speed up unintentionally.
Toyota's US unit said it had developed a fix for the "sticky" accelerator pedals and had started shipping parts to US dealers for repairs. It is also in the process of replacing the faulty floor mats.
But Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said he believed Toyota's troubles with a defective accelerator pedal might be linked to software, after his Prius sped up while in cruise-control.
"Since my foot never touches the pedal," Wozniak told ABC News, the problem "cannot be a sticky accelerator pedal.... There might be some bad software in there."
The problems have already hurt Toyota's sales, which fell below 100,000 vehicles in the United States in January for the first time in more than a decade, according to research firm Autodata.
Honda, which recalled 646,000 vehicles worldwide last week due to a fire risk, expressed concern that the problems could affect the entire Japanese industry.
"We are certainly concerned that the recalls could damage consumer confidence in Japanese cars," Honda vice president Koichi Kondo told reporters after the group announced a $US1.5 billion quarterly profit.
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