TOKYO — Safety regulators in Washington announced Thursday that they would open an investigation into the braking problems of the 2010 Prius hybrid, a few hours after Toyota said there were problems with the car's anti-lock braking system and left open the possibility of a recall.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it would examine reports from Prius owners of a momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump. At least 124 reports have been filed by consumers, including four reports involving crashes.
The inquiry is the latest blow to the beleaguered company and one that affects the symbol of the automaker's engineering prowess. The Prius was drawn into the mounting crisis at Toyota after Japanese officials ordered the company to investigate complaints that the brakes on the 2010 model sometimes failed to work immediately on bumpy or slippery roads.
A Toyota spokeswoman, Martha Voss, said the company had been informed of the agency's plans to open an investigation. "Toyota will cooperate fully," she said in an e-mail message.
In Japan on Thursday, Toyota's manager in charge of quality, Hiroyuki Yokoyama, said the company had identified the problem and corrected the glitch for Priuses sold since late January. He said the company was still considering what actions to take for cars already on the road and had not ruled out a recall.
Mr. Yokoyama told reporters that the new Priuses experienced "a slight unresponsiveness" of the brakes that he said was easy to resolve by pressing harder on the brake pedal. The problem occurred, he said, because the technologically advanced Prius has two braking systems, and a glitch sometimes prevented the car from transitioning smoothly between the two.
In what has become a pattern, however, Toyota has seemed slow to communicate the extent of the problem or reveal details of its response. Just a day earlier, Toyota officials had said the automaker was still studying the complaints and was unsure of the cause.
The problems with Toyota vehicles have battered the company's stock, which has already dropped 22 percent over the last two weeks. After the Tokyo market closed Thursday, Toyota released an earnings forecast that showed higher profits, which the company said took into account the cost of its recalls of about nine million vehicles worldwide for faulty gas pedals. Still, Toyota shares were down 2 percent in early trading Thursday in New York.
The revisions did not include whatever costs the company might incur from the brake problems with the Prius, a highly fuel-efficient model on which Toyota has based many of its hopes.
"The Prius is such a popular car for Toyota. The timing could be very damaging," said Kohei Takahashi, a Tokyo-based analyst for JPMorgan. "If there is a recall, Toyota could see Prius sales fall, at least in the short run."
Adding to the auto maker's woes, the Transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, said Wednesday that owners of recalled Toyotas should stop driving their vehicles, though he quickly backtracked on the comments.
Late Wednesday, the Transportation Department said that Mr. LaHood had spoken with Toyota president, Akio Toyoda, who reassured him that Toyota takes United States safety concerns seriously and puts safety at the top of the company's priorities.
On Thursday, the Japanese consumer affairs minister, Mizuho Fukushima, summoned Toyota executives to explain the problems affecting the Prius. She told the company to investigate the problems and report back to her, and to take steps to prevent unease among Toyota owners, she said.
Toyota has sold 1.2 million Priuses worldwide since 1997, about half in the United States. Last year, it was Toyota's third-best-selling car in the United States, behind the Camry and the Corolla.
Earlier versions of the Prius were involved in the recalls, in which buyers were advised to remove floor mats so they would not block accelerator pedals.
But the 2010 version avoided that recall, and no Prius models have been part of Toyota's recall for sticking accelerator pedals. Toyota received thousands of advance orders for the new generation of the Prius when it went on sale in Japan last May. Japanese safety officials received their first complaint about the car's brakes two months later.
The company said the 2010 Prius has a new type of regenerative brake system different from the ones used in previous generations. With regenerative braking, energy from the wheels is used to help recharge the car's battery.
But the Prius and other hybrid models also rely on electronic systems that combine regenerative braking with conventional brake pads, so that the battery can absorb as much energy as possible while the pads do most of the work of stopping the car. The car also has an anti-lock brake system.
Mr. Yokoyama, the quality control executive, said Toyota had found a problem in the vehicle's regenerative brakes, a complex system that draws energy from the spinning wheel to help recharge the battery.
Meanwhile, questions have been raised recently about other Toyota models as well.
On Wednesday, Representative Edolphus Towns, Democrat of New York and chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the president of Toyota's North American operations, Yoshimi Inaba, for more information about the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.
Mr. Inaba is scheduled to testify next week before the committee, which will hold the first of two congressional hearings on the Toyota recalls.
The Tacoma, built in the United States, was involved in a recall for problems with floor mats but was not included in the second recall, over the sticking pedals. Even so, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 170 complaints about unintended acceleration on 2006-10 Tacoma trucks. Mr. Towns, in a letter, asked why the Tacoma had not been included in the second recall.
The reason, Toyota said Wednesday, is that Denso, a Japanese supplier, makes the Tacoma's pedals, and they are not part of the sticking-pedal recall. The recalled models have pedals from an American supplier.
"Even if five years from now this is all a statistic fluke for Toyota, while the narrative plays out, you will see consumer anxiety," said Mr. Johnson, the Barclays analyst.
On Thursday, Toyota said it had received 77 reports of braking problems related to the newest generation of the Prius.
The Japanese Transport Ministry said at least 14 cases had been reported in Japan, with drivers complaining of brakes momentarily failing at low speeds, especially on slippery surfaces.
The ministry said that its request to Toyota to investigate the Prius brakes was routine.
In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported at least 136 complaints involving the brakes on the 2010 Prius.
Four of the American cases involved a crash, and two of those resulted in injuries, according to the agency's database.
Many of the complaints are from drivers who say their vehicles surged forward or temporarily lost braking after driving over a pothole or another uneven surface. Many say it is a recurring problem.
To be sure, virtually every vehicle sold in America is the subject of complaints; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hears from 30,000 consumers each year. But complaints about Toyotas are being scrutinized more closely in light of the recalls.
James Bell, executive market analyst at Kelley Blue Book, which tracks used-car values, said the Prius questions were making it that much harder for Toyota to put an end to its crisis.
"It just really is kind of cementing in a lot of public perception and sentiment that this story is just going to have a new chapter every day," he said.
Micheline Maynard reported from Detroit, and Martin Fackler and Hiroko Tabuchi from Tokyo.
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