Toyota to install brake override system in new models

Toyota Motor president Akio Toyoda gestures during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. AFP

When a driver steps on both the accelerator and brake pedals, the system is to let the brake function to kick in first, the automaker said.

Toyota said they expected to repair up to 80 percent of Prius hybrids that were affected by the brake problems by end of February.

Meanwhile, Toyoda suggested he was unlikely to testify before a US congressional committee investigating problems that caused global recalls of Toyota vehicles.

He told reporters Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc president Yoshimi Inaba, who is scheduled to sit on the hearings next week, is the "best" person to speak.