Toyota’s president apologizes for global recalls

February 6, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s president apologized Friday for the massive global recalls over sticking gas pedals as the automaker scrambles to repair a damaged reputation and sliding sales.

But Akio Toyoda, appointed to the top job at Toyota Motor Corp. last June, said the company is still deciding what steps to take to fix brake problems in the popular Prius gas-electric hybrid.

Speaking at a hastily announced news conference that lasted an hour, a stern-looking Toyoda promised to beef up quality control.

“We are facing a crisis,” he said, publicly confronting the automaker’s safety problems for the first time since a global recall affecting 4.5 million vehicles was announced Jan. 21.

He bowed in customary Japanese-style greeting at the start of the televised news conference at Toyota’s Nagoya headquarters but did not bow deeply when offering an apology as some executives, including his predecessor Katsuaki Watanabe, have done when under fire.

Toyoda, 53, said the company is setting up a special committee he would head himself.

It would review internal checks, go over consumer complaints and listen to outside experts to come up with a solution to the widening quality problems.

“I offer my apologies for the worries,” he said. “Many customers are wondering whether their cars are OK.”

Toyoda, grandson of the automaker’s founder, has been criticized for not coming out sooner to answer questions about the flood of quality problems that have hit Toyota.

Masaaki Sato, an auto-industry expert who has written books on Toyota and its Japanese rival Honda, said Friday’s appearance was the company’s last chance to keep the situation from worsening.

“He should have come out a week ago,” Sato said of Toyoda during an appearance on a popular late-night news program after the press conference. “After all the foot dragging, he was pushed into a corner.”

Sato also criticized Toyoda for having to be prodded into action in the U.S. by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who called the Toyota president for talks.

“The issue is a huge problem in the U.S., far more serious than you might think,” Sato said. “Those who are driving Toyota cars must be worried, and as Toyota CEO, he has a responsibility to address their concerns and provide an explanation to the U.S. government.”

There is also top-level government concern in Japan about Toyota’s quality fiasco.

Transport Minister Seiji Maehara has urged Toyota to consider a recall for the Prius brake problem. The transport ministry oversees recalls and other auto regulation.