Toyota boss in U-turn on car recall hearing

THE PRESIDENT of Toyota is to attend US Congressional hearings into the firm’s handling of its recent spate of recalls.

Earlier this week he said he would not appear himself, but criticism from US politicians and the Japanese transport minister has led to a change of mind.

In a statement yesterday, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, said he intends a “sincere explanation” of the problems that lead to the recall over safety concerns of nearly 8.5 million vehicles worldwide. In Ireland the recalls affect 18,192 cars.

Seiji Maehara, Japan’s transport minister, said: “It’s good that he has decided to accept . But it’s a shame there was flip-flopping on the decision.”

The US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said it had issued a subpoena for internal documents that Toyota had fought to keep sealed in a legal battle with a former employee who says the carmaker routinely hid evidence of safety problems.

A US House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing into whether the Japanese auto giant handled the recalls in a “timely manner” begins on Tuesday.

The recent recalls began over reported problems with “unintended acceleration”, caused by sticking accelerators which Toyota attributed to either the pedal catching on floormats, or becoming stuck. Up to 34 crash deaths have been blamed on unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles since 2000, according to complaints tracked by US regulators.

A second recall was announced to fix software controlling the brakes on its new Prius hybrids after customers complained that in some instances the brakes did not engage immediately. US safety regulators have also begun a preliminary investigation into complaints about steering problems in US versions of the Corolla. Toyota Ireland says this investigation has no bearing in Europe as the cars sold here feature different steering mechanisms.

Toyota Ireland managing director David Shannon said the firm had written to 12,000 of the 18,130 Irish customers affected by the recall over potential accelerator problems. He said the rest will receive letters next week. As of yesterday it had repaired 3,500 of the cars involved.

The work takes about 20 minutes and is carried out at Toyota dealerships free of charge.