Toyota official: ‘We need to come clean’

April 8, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Five days before Toyota announced a massive recall, a U.S. public relations executive at the automaker warned colleagues in an internal e-mail: “We need to come clean” about accelerator problems, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet,” wrote Irv Miller, group vice president for environment and public affairs. “The time to hide on this one is over.”

The recently retired Miller wrote the e-mail Jan. 16, 2010, as Toyota officials were on their way to Washington to discuss the problems with federal regulators. On Jan. 21, Toyota announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles to address sticking pedals in six vehicle models.

The e-mail reveals deep concerns within the company’s leadership that Toyota wasn’t dealing with the safety problems effectively and could damage the automaker’s sterling reputation for producing safe and reliable vehicles. The company already had announced a recall of more than 4 million vehicles in late September 2009 to replace gas pedals that could get stuck in floor mats and cause sudden acceleration.

“We better just hope that they can get NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] to work with us in coming [up] with a workable solution that does not put us out of business,” Miller wrote.

The e-mail was addressed to Katsuhiko Koganei, executive coordinator for corporate communications for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

“I hate to break this to you but WE HAVE A tendency for MECHANICAL failure in accelerator pedals of a certain manufacturer on certain models,” Miller’s e-mail began with several words in capital letters.

In a memo earlier that day, Koganei wrote Mike Michels, vice president of external communications, “Now I talked with you on the phone, we should not mention about the mechanical failures of acc. pedal because we have not clarified the real cause of the sticking acc pedal formally, and the remedy for the matter has not been confirmed.”

A Toyota official said Wednesday the company had no comment on the e-mails.