Toyota faces legal action

Toyota faces US class-action lawsuits over the Prius faulty brakes and from investors claiming they were misled about the accelerator problems in other models, Reuters reports

A class-action suit filed on Monday on behalf of U.S. shareholders accuses Toyota Motor Corp of issuing "materially false and misleading statements" about its "operations, its business and financial results and outlook."

It said: "misled investors by failing to disclose that there was a major design defect in Toyota's acceleration system, which could cause unintended acceleration."

"As a result of defendants' false statements, Toyota's securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the class period, reaching a high of $91.78 per ADS on January 19, 2010," the suit states.

Class action

A class-action suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeks damages and repairs to a braking defect that the plaintiff, Elaine Miller, says makes driving her Prius dangerous.

Miller's lawyer, Daniel Warshaw, said on Monday he is seeking class-action status in California for all affected owners of the 2010-year Prius and the 2010 Lexus HS250h hybrid, which he said is equipped with the same braking system.

Toyota has declined to comment on any of the pending litigation against it.