Toyota Expected to Announce Brake Fix

In Letter to Dealers Automaker Says Plan to Repair Brakes on 270,000 Prius Cars Will Be Announced in Coming Week

(CBS)  Toyota is preparing to announce a plan to repair the brakes on 270,000 hybrid Prius cars sold in the U.S. and Japan in the past year, CBS News has learned.

Word of the plan affecting the 2010 model year car was revealed in a letter e-mailed to Toyota's 1,200 U.S. dealers Friday night.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) is assessing 124 reports from owners about a momentary reduction in braking performance while driving on rough or slick roads. It said there were four reports of accidents due to a braking problem.

In the message titled "Important Prius Update," Bob Carter, Toyota’s U.S. executive vice president for sales and marketing, wrote that the braking issue "has prompted considerable customer concern, speculation, and media attention due to the significance of the Prius image."

Carter assured dealers that Toyota is moving rapidly to provide a solution for its customers. "We will share more specific details on this solution early next week," he wrote.

The letter suggests that the fix may go beyond the software update introduced last month.