Toyota’s popular environmental crusader, the Prius hybrid, will have its production levels slashed this month as the Japanese manufacturer struggles to address claims of braking system problems.

Nearly 450 000 third-generation Prius models were recalled earlier this year amid claims the brakes could fail to properly function when the car switched between petrol and electric mode, or was driven on particularly slippery or bumpy roads. The issue has caused a sales slump for Toyota with the US market — the Prius’ single most important market — recording a 40 per cent fall in Prius purchases.

Reports from Tokyo say Toyota will trim 10 per cent from Prius production levels to meet the slowing demand. Prius production reached a peak output of 50 000 units per month back in October 2009, after going on sale in May the same year. It’s understood that figure will now be scaled back to around 45 000 units a month. In the Prius’ home market of Japan, the petrol-electric hybrid has been a sales success, and thanks to state subsidies and tax incentives, has topped the nation’s best seller list for the past nine months.

“The outlook for Prius demand is uncertain,” a Toyota spokesperson said. In the US, regulators are investigating more than 60 reports of customer issues with the Prius’ braking system as Toyota’s investigation of the problem continues.

If you own a third-generation Toyota Prius, you can find recall information here.

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) today announced the vehicles to be included in its recall service campaign to correct the accelerator mechanism in these cars. The list of affected vehicles is the result of an exhaustive technical study which covered all Toyota vehicles on sale in South Africa. The affected passenger vehicle models are:

• Toyota Corolla (February 2007 to January 2010) – 45 040 vehicles
• Toyota Auris (June 2006 to January 2010) – 6 665 vehicles
• Toyota Verso (October 2008 to January 2010) – 841 vehicles

This equates to a total of 52 546 Toyota vehicles that will form part of this campaign.

Toyota will start contacting customers of the affected vehicles immediately. All Toyota dealers in South Africa and the countries that TSAM serve will be involved. These include Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. Owners will be given the opportunity to contact their nearest Toyota dealer at their convenience and schedule a time for the repair. The action will take place as a precautionary measure,  despite the fact that the problem has not surfaced to the same effect in the hot and dry climate of South Africa.

In more detail, the problem relates to the operation between the mechanism’s friction shoe that provides pedal feel and ensures pedal stability, and the adjoining surface. The corrective action will take the form of a small precision-cut steel plate that will be placed in the assembly to alleviate the friction between the friction shoe and adjoining surface. This will prevent the problem from surfacing in vehicles equipped with this steel bar for the life of the vehicle.

Repairs will start from 23 February 2010 and the corrective action should take less than an hour, but could take longer if the dealer is experiencing very high levels of service calls. TSAM will honour the full cost of the repair and no owner will be required to pay, regardless of the state of his or her service plan, warranty or the ownership status of the vehicle.

“We would like to apologise to all Toyota vehicle owners for the uncertainty and inconvenience that this process may have caused. We value the trust and confidence that Toyota owners have put in our brand over the past five decades and we will do everything in our power to honour that,” says Dr Johan van Zyl, President and CEO of TSAM.

As further support to the campaign, concerned customers can visit www.toyota.co.za or phone the Customer Contact Centre on 0800-139-111 for up to date information on the recall service campaign.

In an unrelated service action, TSAM has decided to recall all new generation Prius models (August 2009 to February 2010) for a software upgrade to the electronic brake system. This action involves 216 vehicles. This upgrade will address the delayed brake feel on slippery surfaces that has been experienced elsewhere in the world. Given the small volume of new generation vehicles affected Toyota is already in the process of contacting each Prius owner to inform them of this upgrade and schedule a convenient appointment time at their closest Prius dealer.

In late 2009 a recall of 4.2 million U.S. vehicles was issued by Toyota Motor Co. over concerns that accelerator pedals could become lodged under floor mats, causing sudden acceleration. That problem was blamed for several crashes, including an accident involving a Lexus that accelerated to more than 200 km/h before crashing in San Diego, killing four people.

The latest issue however, relates to potential problems with the actual accelerator pedal mechanism, causing the accelerator to become stuck regardless of whether the vehicle contains a floor mat. Toyota said the accelerator pedal mechanism, may, under very rare circumstances, be harder to depress, slow to return to the idle position or remain open in a partially depressed position.

This week it was announced that the recall would officially be expanded to other geographies, including South Africa. Given this development Toyota South Africa have identified the Auris, new generation Verso and Corolla as part of the technical study of all the vehicles that are sold in South Africa. It is likely that these three model ranges will be included in the South African recall programme.

Toyota has not excluded any other models yet and is expected to announce any further additions to their recall list by mid-February – we’ll keep you posted.