Toyota Corolla faces recall

The world's best-selling car, the Toyota Corolla, could be recalled over a possible power-steering problem.  The company has yet to make an announcement.

Toyota has already recalled 8.5 million cars worldwide, 180,000 of those in the UK.  There are concerns about the floor mats trapping accelerators and sticky pedals becoming slow to respond.

The Corolla has not been sold in the UK since early 2007, when the Auris model took over.

The Japanese manufacture is already in trouble.  The company has already recalled 436,000 hybrid cars worldwide, including its latest Prius model, to fix braking and accelerating problems.

'Cover up'

The company has been accused of covering up the errors as it seeks to recover from a global car recall.  It is alleged Toyota president Akio Toyoda knew of the problems, but had ignored them.

The carmaker would add a brake-override system to all new Toyota vehicles, he said at a press conference in Tokyo,.  

The new mechanism will cut engine power when the accelerator and brake pedals are applied at the same time, to prevent vehicles powering out of control.

Toyota apologised in a full page statement in Japanese newspapers about the mass recall.  "We apologise from the bottom of our hearts for the great inconvenience and worries that we have caused you all," the statement reads.