Toyota’s president today announced plans for a global recall of more than 430,000 of its flagship Prius hybrid cars and a production suspension of a high-end Lexus model in a move that plunges the Japanese automaker into a new quality-control debacle.

About 8,500 Priuses in the UK will be affected by the recall. Models built after January 27 have already received the necessary repairs to the braking control system.

Akio Toyoda, heaping more words of regret on to a public apology issued last Friday, admitted that, “Toyota is not an omnipotent, failure-proof company” and pledged that the company would try to avoid making the situation appear “fuzzy”.

Under heavy fire for his response to an earlier recall, he vowed to do everything in his power to minimise the inconvenience caused to customers by the braking problems that have stricken the company’s flagship product.

“We will redouble our commitment to quality,” said Mr Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder, once again carefully avoiding the traditional deep bow of Japanese apology.

“I would like to apologize again to our customers who are worried about Toyota’s quality and safety.”

Mr Toyoda, appearing in Tokyo for the first time since the wider recall of “sticky” accelerator pedals broke more than two weeks ago, is battling to defend Japan’s most iconic manufacturing brand from further damage.

He today rejected suggestions that the company had sacrificed quality in pursuit of size and profitability. Toyota became the world’s biggest automaker two years ago, surpassing General Motors more quickly than many had expected.

Today’s recall, which will chiefly affect 2010 Priuses sold in Japan and the United States since last May, will also cover three other hybrid models – the Prius plug-in, the SAI and the Lexus HS250h.

All of the hybrid models involved in the recall are affected by the same problem that can, under certain icy or bumpy conditions and at low speeds, cause the brakes to stutter or give the sensation of temporary failure. Braking distances, the company said, could be marginally increased by what it insists on calling a "phenomenon".

Mr Toyoda said that the company had not dismissed the safety concerns surrounding the Prius brakes, but reminded motorists that the car could still be brought to a complete stop by pushing harder down on the pedal. "We thought that this had a lot to do with how customers felt while driving," he said.

The company has already developed a software fix for the Prius, and today encouraged owners around the world to take their cars to dealerships to receive the 40-minute repair.

But Toyota said that it has still not devised a fix for the Lexus HS250h, the Sai or the Prius plug-in. Sales and production of those cars will stop immediately, and the company is expected to reveal details of that recall shortly.

The Prius recall was unveiled ahead of congressional hearings in the US tomorrow where Toyota management will be cross-examined over “unintended acceleration” problems that have prompted a worldwide recall of 8.7 million vehicles.

The company, which has so far budgeted around $2 billion for the total cost of the recall now faces a growing number of class-action lawsuits in the US that are expected to send the eventual costs of the recall soaring well beyond that figure. A new case has emerged in which a woman in the California alleges that her Prius has braking issues that make it unsafe.

“I don't think Toyota is an almighty company”, said Mr Toyoda, “we are confident that we've been making improvements when we spotted a failure or defect to provide better products. We will continue this attitude in the future.”