Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood advises owners of recalled Toyota’s to stop driving them and seek repair.

Federal safety officials meanwhile widened their investigation of Toyota’s sticky gas pedals Wednesday to see if the same problem could exist for other automakers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent a letter to CTS, the Indiana company that made the pedals behind Toyota’s recall of millions of vehicles.

The safety agency wants to know more about pedals that CTS made for other auto companies.

CTS says it makes pedals for companies like Honda, Nissan and a small number of Ford vehicles in China.
 
CTS been adamant that the issues are limited to Toyota alone. Other automakers have also said their pedals are based on different designs and aren’t at risk for the same problems.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. has been ordered by Japan’s government to investigate brake-related problems with its latest Prius hybrid, adding to company woes following the recall of millions of vehicles in overseas markets.

The Transport Ministry has received 14 complaints about the model’s brakes since it was introduced in May, said Masaya Ota, an official in the recall division. The ministry contacted the company about the issue in August, said Shunsuke Miyaoka, who works in the same division.

An investigation of the Prius, the world’s best-selling hybrid vehicle, may further damage Toyota’s reputation after recalls of at least 7.6 million vehicles globally, including one that caused a halt of U.S. sales and North American production of eight models. The Prius, Japan’s top-selling model last year, is not among vehicles for which sales were halted in the U.S.

Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said the government had ordered the investigation. She declined to say when officials contacted the company. The latest Prius model isn’t included in overseas recalls for repairs related to unintended acceleration.

(Source: WCBSTV / http://www.businessweek.com/news/)