Adding to the muddle of Toyota problems, the controversial mega company is now under fire for its ambivalence regarding safety issues. The New York Times reports it is not unusual for Toyota to switch production car design to remedy flaws, yet not bother addressing the same problems with vehicles already on the road.

Toyota’s stellar quality and reliability reputation has recently been tarnished because of troubling acceleration problems. As of January 2010, Toyota had recalled a total 5.3 million vehicles in the U.S. due to incidents of dangerous, unintended acceleration. On January 21, Toyota pulled 2.3 million vehicles. Those accelerator pedals became stuck in a depressed position, causing unexpected and unsafe acceleration.

In September 2009, Toyota announced it was recalling and replacing floor mats on approximately 4.2 million vehicles which were allegedly causing accelerator pedals to stick in the depressed position, leading to uncontrollable and rapid acceleration surges.

According to The New York Times, Toyota knew of previous European reports about the same sticking accelerator pedals as early as December 2008. The company began installing redesigned pedals on new vehicles there last August. Toyota told the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it did not realize until October that the U.S. car pedals used the same material as those in Europe, although they were made by the same manufacturer. Instead, Toyota blamed U.S. consumer sudden acceleration complaints on floor mats, and issued the September recall.

The January call back occurred after the company and the NHTSA continued to receive accounts of unintended acceleration in vehicles where the floor mats had been removed. According to the Times, Toyota did not recall sticky pedal cars in Europe, after it changed the design for new cars, because they considered it a “customer satisfaction” issue rather than a defect. The company recalled 1.8 million European Toyotas after the U.S. recall issued in January.

Last week Toyota said it was investigating reports of Prius brakes that temporarily cease working on bumpy or slippery roads. Later in the week, they admitted that the braking system on third-generation Priuses had a design flaw, but had corrected the brake problem for Prius models sold since late January.

Now, The New York Times divulges that Toyota began investigating brake complaints for the 2010 Prius hybrid only after Japan’s Transport Ministry ordered it to do so.

Late last week, Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, apologized for the  recent bungling and promised change. Toyoda said he would be leading a quality control committee at the besieged auto company.

Owners of 2010 Prius hybrids are still awaiting word on a brake fix. Japanese media outlets are reporting that a recall of nearly 300,000 2010 Priuses in the U.S. and Japan could come anytime. According to the Associated Press, the company has told U.S. dealers it is anticipating brake repair for thousands of Prius vehicles, but wasn’t certain if that would involve a formal recall. Some media sources are also reporting that the Lexus HS250h and Sai hybrid sedan might need similar work.