Damage to Toyota’s image plummeted further today with the car maker considering a US and Japanese recall of its flagship Prius hybrid – the symbol of its technological prowess and green car ambitions.

Toyota has acknowledged design problems with the brakes in its prized Prius, adding to the catalogue of woes for the Japanese car giant as it reels from massive accelerator pedal recalls in the US.

Toyota Motor Corp has said that incoming president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, will be a driver on their team in a 24-hour endurance race in Germany.

Toyota says the company will boost overtime pay to their assembly line workers for their voluntary efforts to improve production quality.