Toyota car recall could cost company $2bn

The controversy surrounding the recall of millions of vehicles by the Japanese car maker Toyota over problems with the accelerator in certain models continues.

Toyota has now acknowledged design problems with the brakes in its prized Prius, adding to its woes as it reels from a massive recall of millions of vehicles that are potentially prone to uncontrolled acceleration.

Toyota said it had found design problems with the antilock brake system and corrected them for Prius models sold since late January, including those being shipped overseas.

But the company said it was still investigating how to inform customers who had bought them earlier.

In the US Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood retracted earlier remarks, suggesting owners should stop driving their Toyotas.

Barely a year ago, Toyota knocked General Motors off the top spot in global vehicle sales. It did that in large part through aggressive marketing. But that now looks like a questionable strategy. Duncan Bartlett reports.

First broadcast 04 February 2010