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TOYOTA UPDATE: Toyota Top Boss Apologizes For Recalls (Los Angeles Times)
‘I am deeply sorry about the inconvenience and concern caused to our customers and others,’ says Akio Toyoda, who did not announce a Prius recall. ‘I regret this more than anything.’
Reporting from Tokyo and Washington – Calling the huge recall of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles a “moment of crisis” for the world’s largest automaker, the company’s head formally apologized Friday and said he personally would lead a special committee to improve quality control.
“I am deeply sorry about the inconvenience and concern caused to our customers and others,” a grim Akio Toyoda, the company’s president and chief executive, said at a hastily called news conference at the company’s headquarters in Nagoya, Japan. “We, the ones supposed to relate to people the attractiveness of automobiles have instead imparted on them worry. I regret this more than anything.”
But Toyoda, the grandson of the legendary automaker's founder, did not announce a recall of the company’s popular Prius hybrid, which is the focus of government investigations in Japan and the United States for brake problems. The vehicles also have other possible glitches, including headlights that suddenly go dark, The Times reported Friday.
Some had expected Toyota to announce a recall of about 270,000 Priuses on Friday, which company officials had said was under consideration. But Toyoda said a decision had not been reached. He promised one as soon as possible.
A Prius recall would add to the automaker's mounting troubles. Toyota has recalled more than 9 million vehicles because of problems that can cause sudden acceleration.
FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: Akio Toyoda: Toyota chief apologizes for recalls – latimes.com.
