Toyota head to brief on recalls in Tokyo on Feb 17

The president of Toyota Motor Corp will hold a briefing on Wednesday in Tokyo to update on the progress of a massive global recall that has tarnished the reputation of the world's largest car maker.                                           

Akio Toyoda, president and grandson of Toyota's founder, will attend the briefing at its head office in Tokyo at 0800 GMT along with executive vice president Shinichi Sasaki, who is in charge of quality issues.

Toyota said in an invitation to the press that the briefing would cover the progress of its recall of the third-generation Prius hybrid and "in its approach to quality", without elaborating.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles globally due to the risk that sticky accelerator pedals or loose floormats may result in unintended acceleration.                                           

It has also recalled more than 400,000 of its latest version of the Prius and other new hybrid models due to braking problems.

Toyoda apologised on Feb. 5 for the safety problems of its cars and said he would bring in outside experts to review its quality controls.