Report: Toyota plans to recall 300,000 Priuses

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota plans to recall about 300,000 Prius hybrids worldwide over a brake problem and will notify the U.S. and Japanese governments Tuesday, a news report said, as a top executive will testify before U.S. lawmakers over recall woes that have tarnished its reputation for quality and safety.

The recall of the gas-electric Prius will cover the latest version of the cars that went on sale since May, Kyodo News agency reported late Monday.

Kyodo, which did not identify its sources for the information, said the automaker will notify authorities in Japan and the U.S. of its plan, which will cover about 270,000 of the hybrids sold in the two countries - 170,000 in Japan and 100,000 in the U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said no decision on a Prius recall has been made. Kenji Sugai, an official in Japan's Transport Ministry section in charge of recalls, said it had not been informed of any such plan by Toyota.

The automaker is still weighing its options on how to handle the Prius repairs in the U.S., but it intends to begin fixing them soon, according to a person briefed on the matter who asked not to be identified because the remedy hasn't been made public.