Toyota is now pulling from road 2, 378 Priuses that have been sold in Australia since July last year as drivers have complained about inconsistent brake feel when stopping over pot holes, bumpy or slippery road surfaces.

Toyota Australia spokesman Glenn Campbell said later Tuesday that the company is contacting all Prius customers to arrange to have the cars repaired. He said the cars will still stop when extra pressure is applied to the pedal.

"Some customers can experience inconsistent brake feel when the brakes are applied lightly, for example, when driving over a pot hole, bumpy or slippery road surfaces," he said.

"The brake pedal feel may not be what they expect but the brake itself does not stop working. It will stop the car but the driver may need to press harder on the brake under these conditions."

Owners of Priuses, produced between last April and January in Australia, will be contacted by mail to arrange no-cost repairs -- which Toyota says will take one hour.

The automaker's Australian arm went into damage control on Tuesday afternoon after Toyota's head office in Tokyo announced vehicles sold in Japan, the United States, Europe and other markets needed urgent repairs.

Toyota -- the world's biggest carmaker -- is facing a public relations disaster in Australia with the Australian market responding with concerns over Toyota's long-established safety reputation.

So far, 111 customers globally, including two in Australia, have complained about inconsistent brake feel when stopping over pot holes, bumpy or slippery surfaces.

Earlier, President of Toyota Motor Corporation Akio Toyoda announced a recall of more than 430,000 hybrid cars in Japan, the United States and Europe so a software fault with the ABS brakes can be rectified. Priuses with sticky accelerator pedals are also being recalled in North America, Europe and China but Australian market models are not affected.

About half of the cars affected, including the 2010 model Prius, have been exported to other countries, most of them to North America. Toyota aims to fix a software glitch in the anti-lock braking system.

The company will also suspend sales of two other hybrids -- the Sai sedan and the Lexus HS 250h -- which use the same braking system.

Australian media reported that cars with braking problems were largely made in Japan while the Australian-made hybrid Camry is still on track to arrive in local showrooms later in February.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2010)