Toyota Recalls Over 400,000 Vehicles

Toyota Recall For Over 400,000 Cars

An investigation by US safety officials has resulted in a recall of over 400,000 Toyota Prius hybrid cars across the world.

According to reports, the program for the braking system is faulty, causing a short delay before brakes activate. However, the car maker has been besieged by complaints and recalls for serious design flaws.

Initially, the recall had been limited to Japan, but is likely to be extended to include models of the 2010 Prius gas-electric hybrid sold in the UK, US and Europe.

Toyota fixed the program for last month's run of the cars, but hasn't yet made moves to resolve the same glitches on models sold before then.

Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched the investigation following four crashes, resulting in two minor injuries, attributed to the programming fault.

Akio Toyoda apologized for the recall, saying at a press conference last week: "Let me assure everyone that we will redouble our commitment to quality as a lifeline of our company, with myself taking the lead and by keeping to the genchi genbutsu ("go and see for yourself") principle."

The "genchi genbutsu" principle, which highlights getting to the root of problems and uncovering facts, is part of the "Toyota Way", a system of production much imitated by other companies.

Reportedly, the car maker's famous production philosophy was sparked by a visit to the US Piggly Wiggly supermarket, which inspired the management with its business strategy of only re-ordering supplies after they were sold out.

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