Toyota apologises

Toyota chief apologises for recall

The president of Japanese automaker Toyota has appeared before US politicians in Washington to answer questions and apologise for the recall of millions of cars deemed unsafe.

“I’m deeply sorry for any accident that Toyota drivers have experienced,” Akio Toyoda told US congress members on Wednesday.

The grandson of the company’s founder is expected to face tough questions at the House of Representatives oversight committee hearing over the company’s handling of customer safety concerns and its series of recalls over potentially faulty accelerators and braking systems.

Toyota has recalled around 8.5 million vehicles worldwide and admits the company’s safety standards have slipped.

“Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace of which we have grown may have been too quick,” Toyoda said, reiterating a statement the company released on Tuesday.

Toyota Founded in 1937, based in Toyota City, Japan

Employs approximately 320,000 people worldwide, with manufacturing or assembly plants in 27 countries

Overtook GM in 2008 to become world’s number one selling carmaker

Sold 7.8 million vehicles worldwide in 2009, including the Prius, the first commercial, mass-produced hybrid car

Reported a record annual loss of $4.4bn in May, due to impact of global financial crisis

“I would like to point out here that Toyota’s priority has traditionally been the following: first - safety, second – quality, third - volume. These priorities became confused.”

He offered his “personal committment” to restore customers’ trust in the company by working “vigorously and unceasingly” to correct problems with the recalled cars.

Al Jazeera’s John Terrett, reporting from Washington, said Toyoda’s decision to appear before congress was highly unusual, as the hearings are usually held for US politicians or captains of industry based in the country.

“It is quite extraordinary and a moment of history to see the head of a Japanese corporation coming all the way from Tokyo … to be grilled by politicians of another country’s political system about the faults that his company allegedly has,” he said.

His apology came after the head of Toyota’s US operations said he could not guarantee that fixes being applied to millions of cars would completely eliminate all potential problems.

Speaking in Washington before a separate congressional panel on Tuesday, Jim Lentz said about 70 per cent of complaints related to unintended acceleration remained unexplained.

(aljazeera.net)

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