Toyota’s president Akio Toyoda, under fire for his handling of sweeping recalls, will testify before a congressional hearing next week, appealing to US lawmakers and aggrieved customers for understanding while the company fixes its safety problems.
Japanese officials praised the decision by Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, to accept a formal invitation to explain the recalls and outline plans by the world’s largest automaker to ensure safety and satisfy worried car buyers.
“I will be happy to attend. I will speak with full sincerity,” Toyoda told reporters yesterday in Nagoya, near where the company is headquartered.
PHOTO: AFP, JIJI PRESS
“I am hoping our commitment to the United States and our customers will be understood,” said Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder.
Toyoda said he will cooperate with US regulators looking into recalls of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide, including top-selling models like the Corolla, the Camry and the Prius hybrid.
Earlier this week, he said he did not plan to attend the hearings unless invited. That decision drew heated criticism in the US On Thursday, he agreed to a request to attend from the chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Representative Edolphus Towns, a Democrat.
“It was not just up to me to decide,” Toyoda told reporters in televised remarks.
The decision won accolades from Japanese officials.
Japanese Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said he welcomed Toyoda’s decision. Maehara has urged Toyota to heed the concerns of its customers, and he said it was important for the company to explain the safety lapses.
Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima emphasized the need to prevent the recalls from fueling political friction between Japan and the US.
“I would like [Toyoda] to explain the situation to Americans, clarify his handling of the troubles and regain consumer confidence,” Naoshima told reporters. “It’s best for the president to tackle the issue directly.”
The US side is launching a fresh investigation into Corolla compacts over potential steering problems, widening the crisis over recalls for sticking gas pedals, accelerators getting jammed in floor mats and momentarily unresponsive brakes.
At stake is the Toyota brand name and the loyalty of legions of customers whose trust in the company’s once impeccable quality has been deeply shaken.
“He’s got to demonstrate to regulators, congressmen, customers, dealers, employees that Toyota recognizes there’s a problem, they are contrite about it and they’re going to fix it,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo.
Toyota has been chastised for a tepid response to the recalls, and Toyoda initially was accused of being largely invisible as the recalls escalated.
However, he has held three news conferences in recent weeks, apologizing repeatedly for the safety problems and promising changes.
Toyoda already had planned a US visit to meet with workers and dealers, though the company had planned to send North America chief executive Yoshi Inaba to the congressional hearings.
Towns told Toyoda in his invitation that motorists were “unsure as to what exactly the problem is, whether it is safe to drive their cars, or what they should do about it.”
Towns said late on Thursday that Toyoda would be joined by Inaba and Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA.
The US Transportation Department’s preliminary investigation into steering problems at highway speeds will encompass 487,000 Toyota Corolla and Corolla Matrix compacts from last year and this year’s models.
Toyota faces questions from three committees in Congress. The House Energy and Commerce Committee moved its scheduled hearing up to Tuesday, one day ahead of the Oversight Committee meeting.
The energy panel has invited Lentz and David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to testify.
A Senate hearing, chaired by West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, is also planned for March 2.
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