Toyota is to install a brake-override system in all its future models worldwide, the company’s president, Akio Toyoda, said on Wednesday, after the embattled car-maker vowed to improve quality control amid the global recall of millions of defective cars.
The recall crisis also threatened to expand further after the firm said it was looking into possible power-steering problems with the Corolla, the world’s best-selling car, and was considering a recall.
Shinichi Sasaki, who oversees quality at Toyota, said the exact nature and cause of the problem was unclear, but that the company had received dozens of complaints from owners in the United States.
“If this is a defect, we will start recalls,” he said. “We are in the process of investigating, but the number of complaints is less than 100.” The Corolla has not been sold in the United Kingdom since 2007.
The safety measure announced on Wednesday is designed to solve the acceleration problems that may have caused as many as 34 fatal accidents in the US in the past decade.
The new mechanism will allow the brake to kick in first when drivers inadvertently depress it and the accelerator at the same time.
The override is one of several new measures aimed at reassuring Toyota owners in the wake of the global recall of 8,5-million cars over acceleration and braking problems.
The recall, which has now spread to 437 000 of its market-leading hybrid Prius model, has tarnished the company’s once-vaunted reputation for quality.
Apologies
On Wednesday Toyota took out full-page ads in major Japanese newspapers to apologise for the crisis.
“We apologise from the bottom of our hearts for the great inconvenience and worries that we have caused you all,” the ads said. Toyota said it expected to complete 70% to 80% of its Prius repairs in Japan by the end of the month.
Toyoda, who was appointed last summer after the car-maker suffered the first annual loss in its history, has come under fire for his handling of the recall, which has landed his firm with extra costs of at least $2-billion
He acknowledged for the first time that the company had expanded too fast in its quest to increase profits and overtake General Motors as the world’s biggest car-maker, a feat it achieved two years ago.
“The basic rule of the Toyota production system is to only build as many cars as there is demand for,” he said. “And we broke that rule.”
Toyoda put an end to speculation that he would appear before a US congressional committee next Wednesday in an attempt to salvage his firm’s reputation in its most important market.
Instead, other executives, including Toyota’s North America head, Yoshimi Inaba, will testify. “I think there was some misunderstanding about my plans,” Toyoda told reporters in Tokyo, in his third media briefing in 12 days.
“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. I am sure they are well equipped to well respond to the questions and concerns of congressmen.”
Addressing safety concerns
The firm said it would address safety concerns with the appointment in each of its sales regions of a chief quality officer under Toyoda’s direct control.
The new committee will take the company’s quality-improvement activities “on to a new and higher plane”, Toyota said in a statement, adding that it would hold its first meeting on March 30.
The company said it had “taken to heart” customer feedback from around the world and remained committed to “unwavering quality in products and services and to the spirit of ‘customer first'”.
The improvements came amid intensifying demands by US authorities for more information about Toyota’s handling of the recalls and the announcement that two US factories will close for at least 11 days to adjust to a slowdown in sales caused by the recall.
The US Transportation Department has demanded that Toyota hand over documents related to the recalls so that it can establish how long the firm was aware of the acceleration problem before it started recalling defective vehicles.
Toyoda denied his company had attempted to cover up the safety defects. “We are not covering up anything, and we are not running away from anything,” he said.
Toyota’s US unit said that it “takes its responsibility to advance vehicle safety seriously and to alert government officials of any safety issue in a timely manner”.
“We are reviewing the [US national highway traffic safety administration’s] request and will cooperate to provide all the information they have requested.” — guardian.co.uk