Toyota CEO Apologizes for Safety Lapses

"The way these complaints were handled indicates problems at both NHTSA and Toyota," said Edolphus Towns. "There is a serious question of whether NHTSA used all of its regulatory tools to thoroughly investigate this issue."

LaHood defended NHTSA, calling it the most effective automotive investigative agency in the world.

"Over just the last three years, NHTSA's defect and compliance investigations have resulted in 524 recalls involving 23 million vehicles," said Ray LaHood. "We have not been sitting around on our hands. When people complain, we investigate."

LaHood said that NHTSA continues to gather documentation from Toyota about problems with runaway cars and the company's responses to it.

Wednesday, Toyota reached an agreement with the state of New York to pick up recalled vehicles and provide drivers free rental cars during repairs. At the congressional hearing, the head of Toyota's North American operations, Yoshimi Inaba, said the program would be extended nationwide.

Toyota faces new probe on Corolla steering

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received more than 150 complaints about possible steering problems in 2009 and 2010 Corolla models, a U.S. government official said.
The agency began reviewing complaints about the Corolla models last week and on Wednesday determined that the evidence warranted opening a preliminary evaluation, according to the official who asked not to be named because the plan has not been announced.

The Corolla is Toyota's second-most popular model in the U.S. market, behind the Camry.
Such preliminary investigations are a common step by NHTSA and are often closed before being upgraded to a second-stage investigation or prompting a vehicle recall.

Toyota spokeswoman Cindy Knight said the automaker was aware of the Corolla steering complaints and would "cooperate fully with NHTSA's investigation."
Toyota's quality chief, Shinichi Sasaki, said at a briefing in Tokyo on Wednesday that it was not yet clear if the problem is due to the steering, tires or another part, and that there would only be a recall if the issue was deemed to be a safety breach.

"Our internal studies have shown that drivers have complained about a change in steering response versus the older Corollas possibly due to a switch from a hydraulic power steering system to an electronic one," Sasaki said.

But the move comes at a time when Toyota and U.S. safety regulators are under intense scrutiny for their handling of safety complaints related to unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles going back a decade.
Toyota is being challenged by U.S. lawmakers to answer the criticism that the company's practice of tightly controlling key decisions in Japan had contributed to its deepening problems in the U.S. market and criticism that it has not been forthcoming with safety regulators.
In a move that raised the stakes for a pair of congressional hearings next week, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said he would send North America chief Yoshimi Inaba to testify instead of making an appearance himself.
Toyoda, grandson of the 77-year-old automaker's founder, said he believed Inaba was the logical choice to testify.

"I have full confidence in the management of Toyota Motor North America, led by Mr. Inaba, and I believe he is the best placed to testify," Toyoda told reporters at his third news conference in two weeks.
The statement by Toyoda came a day after the automaker moved to cut production in the United States and NHTSA opened an investigation into whether it had acted in a timely way in responding to safety complaints.
A series of vehicle recalls since January have damaged Toyota's once-vaunted reputation for quality and safety. Up to 34 crash deaths have been blamed on unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles since 2000, according to complaints filed with U.S. regulators.

Toyoda faces a deepening crisis just seven months into his tenure as the automaker's chief. He said Toyota may have grown too fast in recent years, outstripping its ability to ensure that vehicle quality standards were maintained.
Two congressional panels plan hearings next week to look into Toyota safety issues. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce panel moved its hearing to Tuesday instead of Thursday. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government reform is scheduled to hold a hearing on Wednesday.
The top Democrat and Republican on the oversight panel asked major insurers for information they may have provided to U.S. safety regulators on reports of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.
State Farm, the largest U.S. auto insurer, said last week that it had warned NHTSA about a worrying trend of Toyota accidents in 2007.

Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on that committee, also sent a letter to Inaba asking him to answer a series of questions about when Toyota became aware of safety problems with its cars.
Issa also told Inaba to submit a written answer by Monday discussing whether there was a "disconnect" between the company's U.S. operations and its Japan headquarters as critics have charged.
Specifically, he asked about a team of NHTSA officials dispatched to Toyota's headquarters in December to deliver the message that the automaker was not moving fast enough to address the U.S. government's safety concerns.

"Why was it necessary for NHTSA officials to visit Japan in order for Toyota to recognize its obligations under U.S. law?" Issa asked in his letter to Inaba.
Toyota also said on Wednesday that it would install a brake override system on all new vehicles after global recalls for acceleration and braking problems that affect 8.5 million vehicles.
LOSS OF PUBLIC TRUST?

Former NHTSA chief Joan Claybrook, a vehicle safety advocate who is scheduled to testify before Congress, said Toyota should install brake override systems on vehicles it has already sold, not just new models.

"The American public has lost trust in Toyota and they need to regain that trust," Claybrook said.
Complaints about unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles in the United States have been rising since it began installing electronic throttle controls on its vehicles a decade ago.
Meanwhile, analyst doubts have been deepening about the pace of Toyota's earnings recovery. Only two weeks ago, the company estimated the recalls would reduce global sales by 100,000 units in the financial year to the end of March.
Toyoda said production cuts had been within expectations so far and he believed the company could stem further sales declines, although it was impossible to tell for sure.
Toyota executives have told dealers that they will roll out a package of incentives in March to keep customers from defecting to rival brands.

Toyota shares, which have fallen a fifth from a peak on January 21, dipped 0.4 percent in Toyko trade.
"Investors, though not overly optimistic, are welcoming Toyota's efforts to move away from behavior that has hurt trust in it, while they expect political pressure to remain against Toyota in the United States in the near term," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager of investment strategy at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.

Toyota Prius Complaints on Brakes

Toyota Motor Corp. has been beaten by more than 100 complaints in the United States and Japan about the problems with the brakes popular hybrid Prius, the ultimate high for a car serentetan as bergulat great memory problems worldwide.
Company sales in the U.S. Japanese dipukuli - The Toyota's largest market - remember the best-selling models for improving gas pedal can be connected in the depressed position.
To add a company problem, the Minister of Transportation United States Ray LaHood said Tuesday he will talk with Toyota's chairman, Akio Toyoda, the car serentetan recalled in the United States. LaHood said the U.S. government is investigating the possible electrical problems in Toyota vehicles.
LaHood said he will call Toyoda in the coming days to ensure cars Japanese government aware of the concerns about security problems with Toyota vehicles.
Secretary stated that the National Roads Traffic Safety will conduct research in the system of electronic throttle control and the potential for electromagnetic interference in the vehicle fleet of nations.
Hybrid gasoline-electric Prius again, the first sold in Japan and the United States in April, is not part of the mind that extend to Europe and China, covering almost 4.5 million vehicles.
U. S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 100 complaints about the brakes of the new Prius models. Two involved in accidents resulting in injuries.
Japanese Transport Ministry said on Wednesday that his company also received 14 complaints since last July about the problems of a new Toyota Prius Hybrid brake.
14 complaints, such as accidents in July, which fell on the head Prius at the crossing. Masaya Ota Transportation Department officials say two people slightly injured in the accident.
Prius driver in the accident, told police that the brakes do not work, "Ota said." Other Prius drivers are not as sharp mengeluhkan brakes. "The complaints in Japan a new Prius model of participation, given that all vehicles in Japan, said.
Toyota ordered the service, world No. 1 car, to investigate complaints. Another 13 cases that occurred between December and January 2010. Ota said the services have not received an official report into allegations of Toyota.
Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi company has received reports of complaints about the Prius in North America and Japan, and now look at the problem.
Stock drops
Toyota shares fell 5.7 percent to $ 39.76 Canadian equivalent to eliminate stock investors because of unrest in the U.S. misery Prius and Japan. Beringsut The Nikkei rose just 0.3 percent to 10,404.33 as a decrease in the confidence of Toyota wet.
"Investors fear that the latest problem involves the Prius can be much higher. This problem can lead to a broader issue at Toyota, high security," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd.
Also Wednesday, the South Korean government said the local unit of Toyota vehicles recalled over 444 disabled accelerator and floor mats.
The vehicles made in North America and over 19,000 Toyota vehicles imported from Japan is not part of the recall, the Department of Land, Maritime and Transport, said in a statement.
Toyota is facing growing criticism that not enough was done to ensure the safety of vehicles.
Serious problems arise in the Prius, Toyota key green car model, you're more confident of menodai cap.
Prius, now the third generation since its introduction in 1997, is selling gasoline-electric hybrid in the world, press a cumulative total of 1.6 million units sold to date, according to Toyota.
Hybrid, with a shuttle to go between the gasoline engine and electric motors tend to offer a period of better range at low speed and stop-and-go driving is common in the covenant of the city.