Toyota Global President Testifies Before Congress

Toyota President Akio Toyoda faulted rapid company growth for Toyota’s failure to catch accelerator problems.
Toyota Global President Testifies Before Congress
Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda enters the room to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)
2/24/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/toyoda97034532.jpg" alt="Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda enters the room to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda enters the room to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1822688"/></a>
Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda enters the room to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON—Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda faulted rapid company growth for Toyota’s failure to catch accelerator problems at a congressional hearing Wednesday of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

He said the company has always placed the safety and quality of Toyota cars above the quantity but that in the midst of recent market share growth their “priorities became confused.” He is the grandson of the company’s founder.

In January Toyota announced vehicle recalls for 5.3 million vehicles in the United States for defects in braking, faulty accelerator pedals, and slipping all-weather accessory floor mats (that entrap the gas pedal and cause unintended acceleration). At Wednesday’s hearing he expressed remorse for those who had lost their lives because of unintended acceleration defects and said he would be conducting a top-to-bottom review of quality control processes.

He said that in the past recall decisions were made from Toyota’s Customer Quality Engineering Division in Japan, and that in the past the office has not put enough emphasis on the customer’s perspective. He said in the future Toyota will make sure customer voices reach management in a more timely manner to improve the decision making process.

Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America also testified at the hearing saying that Toyota would establish a Special Committee on Global Quality to “really face up to the this problem openly.”

Accusations have been raised that Toyota knew of the problem of accelerator pedals sticking one year before the problem was reported to U.S. regulatory officials.

At the hearing Inaba said that Toyota knew of problems with accelerator pedals sticking in smaller, right-hand-side driver versions sold in Europe, but that the U.S. division of the Toyota was not immediately made aware of the problem.

Toyoda and Inaba were also questioned about former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) employees now employed by Toyota, and whether their connections with the agency may have prevented an investigation by the NHTSA into the unintended acceleration problem.

According to Joan Claybrook, NHTSA administrator under President Carter, the concern is not limited to Toyota. She says 28 former NHTSA employees have joined auto companies over the years.

She said the agency is underfunded, calling it the Department of Transportation’s “poor stepsister.” NHTSA receives only 1 percent of Department of Transportation funding with only 15 percent of that funding dedicated to the agency’s motor vehicle program.

Toyota dealers around the U.S. are now working overtime to replace customers’ acceleration pedals to prevent unintended acceleration.