The head of Toyota faces angry US politicians today in an attempt to limit even more damage to the company over its safety recall of millions of cars.

Embattled car maker Toyota and the US government are probing complaints that the popular Corolla model is difficult to steer straight, it emerged today.

Toyota is looking into possible power-steering problems with the Corolla subcompact, the world’s best-selling car, the car giant’s quality control executive said today.

Toyota took full-page ads in major Japanese newspapers today to apologise for massive recalls and began fixing braking faults on two problem hybrid models as pressure mounted on the car maker to come clean over defects.