In the apparent first of a potential rush of legal claims over the Prius, a 2010 Prius owner has sued Toyota in Los Angeles, claiming the automaker failed to fix a brake defect and seeking a court order requiring a recall.
Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said the automaker was moving toward announcing a remedy for the Prius brake glitch.
Around 200,000 of the Prius cars have been sold in Japan, 103,200 in the United States and 29,000 in Europe since it was launched last May.
As Toyota's North American plants resumed production of eight models involved in one an earlier safety recall for sticky accelerator pedals, the world's largest automaker said it was getting ready to recall the Prius hybrid car in Japan as early as Tuesday, a source familiar with those plans said.
The Sai and Lexus production halt is expected to last at least a week, the Nikkei said. U.S. Transportation Department officials had no comment on the latest Prius development out of Japan.