February 05, 2010

Toyota President Apologizes for Recalls

Posted on 5:34 PM by News and issues

Consequence a rapidly arranged tip conference Friday night, the president of Toyota apologized for quality problems that swear by led to the recall of more than 9 million cars in recent months further said the Japanese automaker would soon announce what steps original would move to address brake problems in its 2010 Prius model.

The president, Akio Toyoda, also verbal Toyota would set buildup a global quality improvement task force.

“I sharply nostalgia that I caused concern among so many people,” Mr. Toyoda said. “We consign do our utmost to recover the admission of our customers.”

Mr. Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, has been infinitely off-track from the affirm network recent weeks even through the cart up-to-date a media skirmish command the United States and elsewhere to detail its plans to repair millions of cars whose accelerator pedals may stick.

Until Friday, Mr. Toyoda’s only federal comments on the company’s mounting woes came in a brief interview disguise a Japanese broadcaster on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The problems with the 2010 model Prius perturb to its anti-lock braking system. Company officials said earlier Friday they were also looking into two unrelated hybrids lie low the same brake figure — the Lexus HS250h again a rough draft sold fame Japan, the Sai.

Toyota has sold about 103,000 of its latest-model Prius in the United States, 176,000 credit Japan further 32,000 ropes Europe.

Toyota dealerships are already repairing gas pedals on millions of contrary recalled vehicles, but the 2010 Prius did not consider those problems.

Toyota said Thursday that certain had identified a defect in the anti-lock braking system of the 2010 Prius further had corrected it domination Priuses built being delayed January. The car was redesigned due to the 2010 model pace and this version first went on sale last May leadership Japan.

Some drivers of the 2010 Prius think complained that their cars pdq escape the ability to brake when driven for a den or other grating surfaces. Toyota said the issue was a result of the anti-lock brakes’ crucial to maintain tire traction.

The Prius developments added to questions about Toyota’s credibility, particularly because the company oral Wednesday that it was examining the reports of brake problems on the Prius, but that indubitable was unsure of the cause.

“Users are eyeful defects and efficient conclude been accidents,” Japan’s jewel minister, Seiji Maehara, told reporters Friday ahead of Mr. Toyoda’s briefing. “This leads me to believe Toyota has not decree consumers first.”

The Japanese guidance has ordered the caravan to investigate the brakes on the Prius, over has the U.S. familiar Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Safety regulators dominion Washington spoken Thursday that they would open an investigation into the car’s brakes. Toyota spoken it would “fully cooperate” with the regulators’ investigation.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Prius braking problem would undistinguished not be impending enough to prompt a recall, uttered David Champion, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, a nonprofit publication force the United States.

But given the symbol of weak attention surrounding Toyota, and lie low two committees of the House of Representatives scheduling hearings this month about the recalls, the carmaker needs to arrive that it is involvement everything it can to alleviate fears about its vehicles, Mr. Champion said.

“Toyota’s foxy a huge hit at the seriousness repercussion terms of their brand image,” Mr. Champion verbal before Toyota’s ammo bunch Friday. “Their brand image has been built on the safety and reliability of their cars.”

In opening the hunt into the Prius, the U.S. safety object said evident had celebrated 124 complaints about the brakes on the 2010 Prius. By Thursday afternoon, its database listed about 300 complaints on that show up. Eight of them involved crashes — mostly sympathy the rear of other car at a low ease — and two of the drivers said they had injured their necks.

“It corrects itself almost immediately, but there is that second when palpable feels enjoy it isn’t going to stop,” one complainant wrote.

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