Toyota confirms Prius had brake design problems

The news just keeps getting worse and worse for Toyota.

Now, the storied Japanese automaker has had to admit there have been problems with the anti-lock braking system on the celebrated Toyota Prius hybrid model.

The company has received about 180 complaints from Prius owners in both the U.S. and Japan about unresponsive brakes. The flaw is due to the dual nature of the gasoline-electric hybrid Prius - the brakes may become momentarily ineffective as the vehicle switches between the hydraulic brakes and the electronically controlled braking system. The brake system flaw requires a software reprogramming to fix.

Toyota has said it has fixed the problem in its Prius production but has not yet decided whether to issue a recall for Prius models which were delivered to customers before the fix in late January. The brake problem in the Prius dates back to 2007.

Toyota has recently had to recall about 4.5 million vehicles worldwide due to a gas-pedal flaw which can cause the accelerator to stick. The company estimates the cost of the recall to be about $2 billion, including a loss of sales. Toyota's stock value has fallen about 22 percent since the recall was announced on the 21st of January.