Toyota's President, Head Of Operations Speak About Massive Recall

WASHINGTON -- (BY LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, AP) The president of Toyota's operations apologized for the company's handling of safety issues Tuesday while insisting that electronic problems did not contribute to sudden acceleration of its cars. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood argued that such a possibility could not be ruled out.

(Scroll down for the prepared remarks from Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda regarding the automaker's growth in the U.S.)

Toyota's James Lentz and LaHood presented differing views in prepared testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigative panel, the first of three congressional panels holding hearings on Toyota's problems.

The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigative subcommittee, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michm, set the tone for sharp questioning of Lentz at the hearing's outset.

"Toyota all but ignored pleas from consumers to examine sudden unintended acceleration events," he said. "They boast in a briefing of saving Toyota $100 million by negotiating a limited recall. They claim that they first became aware of sticking pedals in late October of 2009 when in fact they had received numerous complaints many months and years earlier."

"They misled the American public," Stupak added, "by saying that they and other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained by Toyota's lawyers."

Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues against conducting a "witch hunt."

Mr. Toyoda Testimony -

Comments

[AirViceMarshalPark]

04:28 AM on 02/25/2010

Toyota will be under a new name very soon but the same car. I hear that "Blackwater" is available for use.

Check out that 2010 Blackwater.

[goodmorningsunshine]

08:10 PM on 02/24/2010

I'll still go for Toyota, comfort ride.

[Mondayboy]

03:35 PM on 02/24/2010

Toyota is simply experiencing a fundamental truth about large companies.....

If you become too big to fail, you become too big to care.....

This is what happened to our large banks and car companies.

[calgary]

02:45 PM on 02/24/2010

Hey, can we talk about Tiger Woods instead.

[voxpop4]

12:35 PM on 02/24/2010

Toyota!!! These are the same guys that gave us "Pearl Harbor"! Maybe they are getting even with us for Hiroshima....

[binksmom]

12:14 PM on 02/24/2010

THE CURE FOR YOUR TOYOTA PROBLEMS: BUY AMERICAN CARS, THEIR QUALITY IS NOW BETTER THAN JAPAN'S- AND IT IS THE WAY OF ECONOMIC RIGHTEOUSNESS

[AirViceMarshalPark]

04:25 AM on 02/25/2010

Your caps lock key is on.

[2centsplain]

10:58 AM on 02/24/2010

Ok, I can understand a problem too difficult to fix quickly. True in most business's. Toyota should be forced to buy back (at the price paid) every car from every Toyota owner who wants to return it. Further it, Toyota, should be banned from selling cars in the US until they can stand behind their product. Easy solution.

[munki]

11:20 AM on 02/24/2010

Did we do that to Ford "Explorer" ? or any other auto makers?

Every case should deserve to be treat the same.

What is the statistics of problem cars; does it mean all Toyota cars have problems?
I had so called a "Toyota" car for many years and was happy with it !

[Patriot86]

12:53 PM on 02/24/2010

I would not brag about st abbing your country in the back.

[AZdesertdog]

01:12 PM on 02/24/2010

perhaps you forgot the problem with the Explorer concerned one simple thing:

tires.

new tires, with proper inflation, problem gone.

perhaps you can explain how this compares with electronic glitches that override gear shift assemblies that are not cable operated, but controlled by the very same haywire computer that has the car at wide open throttle. put the gearshift anywhere you like, but nothing will happen.

this computer is in ALL Toyota vehicles, and they are the only manufacturer in the world that does not have a brake override circuit.

they have now offered to put in the brake override in SOME cars, by not all.

it seems not all of their customers deserve a safe car, and it took things to reach the point they have for them to even do anything.

when Rep. Waxman asked Toyota president Lentz if the "fixes" Toyota has put in place will solve the problem, Lentz said, "No, not totally".

what would you deduce from this statement? perhaps Toyota knows they have an electronic problem, but still won't admit it?

if this was an American company, folks would be in the streets with torches and pitchforks.

[Mortimer2]

06:50 AM on 02/24/2010

The first car I ever owned didn't have any electronics. One day the gas pedal stuck to the floorboard. I turned the key off and the car stopped. How was I able to do thtat without electronics to help me?

[Robert Cantor]

02:19 AM on 02/24/2010

we grew too fast, sorry you're dead

[hypnotoad72]

10:36 PM on 02/23/2010

"Grew too fast"?

More like "cut too many corners and tried to hide it".

Sorry to be cynical; the pattern amongst many corporations nowadays is merely hidden in plain sight... they can't even hide that anymore!

[binksmom85]

12:50 AM on 02/24/2010

grew too fast?, yeah like when Raygun let them dump cars on our market below the cost of production so they could capture market share; great patriot that Raygun guy. Our auto-workers were-are- prisoners of war. War against the middle class by the oligarchs. The corporate guys have to stick together, so few of them, and so many of us.

[GGINA]

09:30 PM on 02/23/2010

They exporting the Toyota's to Eastern Europe and South America making a killing on these death cars

[BUY AMERICAN]

07:38 PM on 02/23/2010

It's very unfortunate the mainstream media had not chosen to give the exposure of the June 2008 National Labor Committee's report on Toyota titled "The Toyota You Don't Know" like they did for the SAME organization's report on Kathy Lee Gifford!
Toyota's recent advertising boycott of Brian Ross of ABC is proof why they didn't, Toyota advertising pockets are too deep to shed light on a parts suppy chain riddled with sweatshop abuse that is not accountable for tracing, as said in the hearing today, for "MISmanufactured components.

http://www.nlcnet.org/article.php?id=562

Oh and as far as "Government Motors is concerned, here is the breakdown of American taxpayer subsidies (don't have to pay back) Foreign OWNED automakers have gotten for ""token" assembly plants here that everyone ignores:


http://michiganmessenger.com/10233/foreign-owned-automakers-received-billions-in-public-subsidies-report-says

Needless to say, buying from American OWNED companies who funnel the lion's share of profits to the US, NOT overseas that allow the $ to come back and dictate our labor, safety laws and sovereignty!
How's the tax dollar deficiency working for YOUR schools, police etc?

[blastocyst]

08:38 PM on 02/23/2010

Thanks for placing this here.

[binksmom]

12:19 PM on 02/24/2010

here's the list of foreign auto manufacturer subsidies-6 of them to Toyota alone (thanks to Mr Raygun):

Honda, Marysville, OH, 1980, $27 million*
Nissan, Smyrna, TN, 1980, $233 million**
Toyota, Georgetown, KY, 1985, $147 million
Honda, Anna, OH, 1985, $27 million*
Subaru, Lafayette, IN, 1986, $94 million
Honda, East Liberty, OH, 1987, $27 million*
BMW, Spartanburg, SC, 1992, $150 million
Mercedes-Benz, Vance, AL, 1993, $258 million
Toyota, Princeton, IN, 1995, $30 million
Nissan, Decherd, TN, 1995, $200 million**
Toyota, Buffalo, WV, 1996, more than $15 million
Honda, Lincoln, AL, 1999, $248 million
Nissan, Canton, MS, 2000, $295 million
Toyota, Huntsville, AL, 2001, $30 million
Hyundai, Montgomery, AL, 2002, $252 million
Toyota, San Antonio, TX, 2003, $133 million
Kia, West Point, GA, 2006, $400 million
Honda, Greensburg, IN, 2006, $141 million
Toyota, Blue Springs, MS, 2007, $300 million
Volkswagen, Chattanooga, TN, 2008, $577 million

Total: more than $3.58 billion

[blastocyst]

01:33 PM on 02/24/2010

Every individual taxpayer in those States then theoretically owns a piece of those Companies.

Would that the Japanese Government disclose the depth of their involvement in Toyota's, to name but one company, global manifestation.

Wicked web.

Very nice work.

[MayorQuimby]

06:09 PM on 02/23/2010

Grammatical error HP. Should read, "Grew Too Quickly".

[studmoose]

06:02 PM on 02/23/2010

So what are all of the problems that haven't surfaced yet!

[WIpatriot]

06:29 PM on 02/23/2010

Are you referring to the "known unknowns" or the "unknown unknowns?"

[spinns17]

06:39 PM on 02/23/2010

or the covered uncovered to.

[laughsatducks]

01:56 PM on 02/25/2010

He won't know until he knows what he doesn't know. This includes unknowns.

[blastocyst]

05:17 PM on 02/24/2010

What didn't they know and when didn't they know it?

[spinns17]

05:40 PM on 02/23/2010

do you think wall street knew about this .i seen the stock tank just before this news came out.