Toyota Motor Corp plans to recall an estimated 270,000 units of its new-generation Prius hybrid in the United States and Japan to fix a brake problem, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.

Toyota will soon file with Japan's Transport Ministry and the U.S. Department of Transportation for the recall following consumer complaints about insufficient braking on the 2010 model year Prius, the newspaper said, without citing sources.

Toyota representatives in the United States were not immediately available for comment.

The move comes after U.S. safety regulators opened a formal probe on Thursday into problems with the brakes of the Prius, the latest jolt to an automaker already reeling from massive recalls of its most popular vehicles, including the Camry.

The latest recall covers the third-generation Prius, which was launched in May, the Nikkei said. It covers about 176,000 vehicles in Japan and around 100,000 in the United States sold between May and December last year, the Nikkei said.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim)

Toyota Recall Japan