Toyota's troubles just keep getting bigger.

The world's largest automaker -- hamstrung first by faulty accelerator pedals and now brake problems in the Prius and other hybrids -- announced Tuesday a major expansion to its current list of vehicle recalls.

Toyota announced that 437,000 Prius and other hybrid models are being recalled worldwide so that brake problems can be fixed. Prius models were previously only recalled in Japan.

Just under 3,300 vehicles in Canada are part of the 2010 Prius recall, along with just over 300 2010 Lexus HS250h vehicles.

"I don't see Toyota as an infallible company that never makes mistakes," President Akio Toyoda said at a press conference Tuesday in Tokyo. "We will face up to the facts and correct the problem, putting customers' safety and convenience first."

Prius vehicles produced since May 2009, and all HS250h vehicles, are subject to the recall, according to Toyota Canada. Earlier generation Prius vehicles use a different braking system and are not subject to the recall.

Separately, Toyota Canada also announced it is recalling 393 early production 2010 Camry vehicles with four-cylinder engines. The company says it will check on whether a power-steering hose may be in contact with a front brake tube, which could cause a hole in the tube through which break fluid could leak.

The latest announcement brings to 8.5 million the number of vehicles recalled by Toyota Motor Corp. That total includes recalls due to floor mats that could interfere with gas pedals, defective accelerator pedal assemblies and now the Prius brake troubles.

The 2010 Prius wasn't part of the earlier recalls.

"This comes right after an even larger recall of vehicles from a company that has established its name based on very high quality and in the case of Prius, it was and is the world leader in terms of hybrid cars, so this is a huge and very significant event for Toyota," Charlotte Yates, an auto industry analyst from McMaster University, told CTV's Canada AM.

The Prius problems are related to about 200 reports of a delay when the brakes are pressed in cold conditions or on bumpy roads.

Toyota says the problem can be fixed in about 40 minutes with new software.

Toyota told Japan's Transport Ministry on Tuesday it was recalling the 2010 Prius gas-electric hybrid. In Japan, Toyota is also recalling the Lexus HS250h sedan -- which is sold in the U.S. and Japan -- and the Sai, which is only sold in Japan.

Toyota shares are down about 20 per cent in Japan since January 21st, when it announced the gas pedal recall.

Yates said Toyota has handled the problems in the right way -- but that may not be sufficient.

"Toyota has been in damage control mode -- stopping production, signalling to everyone that they took this very seriously and were doing everything they could, and of course the public apology from the head of Toyota," Yates said.

"The problem is the events seemed to be outpacing their capacity to control the damage, that seems to be where the problem is, they just seem to be getting one problem under control and they have another one."

Toyota executives and lobbyists will have their public-relations work cut out for them in the U.S., where congressional hearings are scheduled for the coming weeks to determine what the company knew about the problems, and when.

The company has remained tight-lipped about its PR strategy. However, spokesperson Cindy Knight told The Associated Press that Toyota has hired additional lobbyists, lawyers and public-relations experts "to work with regulators and lawmakers collaboratively towards a successful recall effort, ensuring proper, diligent compliance."

In a bit of good news for the company, Toyota Canada announced Tuesday that production resumed on schedule at its plant in Woodstock, Ont., where it produces the RAV4, and in Cambridge, Ont., where the Corolla and Matrix are made.

Both had been shut down while the company remedied the sticky accelerator problem.

With files from The Associated Press