Toyota says ‘deeply sorry’ for accidents

WASHINGTON – Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda said he was ‘deeply sorry’ for accidents caused by safety problems with Toyota vehicles and detailed a set of reforms that would shift control of recall decisions away from the automaker’s Japan headquarters.

Toyoda said in testimony prepared for his highly anticipated appearance yesterday before the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that a period of explosive growth may have weakened the automaker’s internal controls.’We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organisation, and we should sincerely be mindful of that,’ Toyoda said in his written testimony.’I regret that this has resulted in the safety issues described in the recalls we face today, and I am deeply sorry for any accidents that Toyota drivers have experienced,’ he said.Two days of congressional hearings on Toyota’s safety crisis got under way on Tuesday.Toyota’s recall of more than 6 million vehicles in the US market in recent months was prompted in part by a fatal crash in a Lexus in August that killed an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family.Toyoda apologised personally to the surviving family of Mark Saylor.’I would like to extend my condolences to the members of the Saylor family, for the accident in San Diego,’ he said. ‘I would like to send my prayers again, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.’The remarks marked the most personal and direct apology from Toyoda, who has appeared uncomfortable with the media spotlight and had initially resisted calls to testify before congressional investigators.Toyoda, whose grandfather founded the Japanese automaker, said he was personally committed to making changes that would ensure Toyota maintained higher standards of quality.’My name is on every car,’ he said. ‘You have my personal commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to restore the trust of our customers.’Toyoda also detailed steps that would shift control on future recall decisions away from an engineering group at the automaker’s headquarters.Critics have charged that the centralisation of control by engineers at the automaker’s ‘customer quality engineering’ team in Japan contributed to its slow response to the crisis.Toyoda said the automaker would appoint a new product safety executive in North America and bring in outside experts to ensure that customer complaints were reflected more quickly and fully in safety decisions. – Nampa-Reuters