Toyota Motor Corp. will disclose more information on safety repairs it carries out that are not the subject of recalls, amid growing criticism that the automaker has covered up complaints about its best-selling Prius hybrid, company officials said Friday.
Automakers often make adjustments to new models in response to customer feedback, but such repairs are not usually publicized.
But Toyota has decided to make public information on the repairs it makes to core functions, such as braking and acceleration, even if the vehicles concerned are not the subject of a recall or a safety campaign, the officials said.
When automakers carry out a mandatory recall or voluntary repair in a safety campaign, they are required to disclose the information to the transport ministry or through their home page.
Toyota has come under intense scrutiny both at home and abroad after it was discovered that the automaker had been repairing the latest model of its Prius hybrid on a customer-by-customer basis following dozens of complaints it has received over brake problems.
Earlier this week, the world's largest automaker announced a recall of about 437,000 vehicles globally to fix brake problems in its new Prius and three other hybrid models.