affecting some 400,000 cars. akio toyoda, his grandfather founded the company, made this promise, speaking in english to his customers around the world. >> together we will do everything in our power to regain the confidence of our customers. >> reporter: the problem, says toyoda, is with the antilock brakes. hit ice or uneven surfaces, the brakes seem to fail for a fraction of a second. toyota says a software fix fixes the problem. for about two weeks, amid toyota's recall of more than 8 million cars for sticky accelerators and faulty floor mats, the company's president was out of the public eye. now he's out in front, saying he's personally tested the prius and felt the braking problem himself. toyota says the company is not failure-proof and he was making the prius recall announcement to send a message to customers in his own words. it is about time, says japan expert jeffrey kingston. >> up until now it's been a total disaster.