A week after the recall of its cars, Toyota is act of contrition

Toyota’s first official to speak since the recall of some 4.5 million cars off the mark Nippon, vice president Shinichi Sasaki reiterated the group’s apology for the inconvenience caused to its customers.

AFP – Japanese auto giant Toyota, which had to recall millions of cars worldwide due to faulty accelerator pedal, denied Tuesday that he sacrificed the legendary quality of its products to more quickly become number one worldwide.

During a press conference, the first by a top official of Toyota in Japan since the outbreak of the crisis, the vice-president Shinichi Sasaki reiterated the apology on the group against motorists affected.

“Owners of recalled vehicles and to all our customers worldwide, we offer our sincere apologies for the trouble caused,” said Sasaki at Toyota headquarters in Nagoya, central Japan.

He however failed to bow before the cameras, as do employers typically Japanese to express their contrition.

The vice-president of Toyota has refuted criticism that the manufacturer, went number one worldwide in 2008, would have sacrificed the legendary quality of its cars to more quickly this consecration.

“I do not think the expansion of overseas production has affected the quality in any way whatsoever,” he said.

He acknowledged that the delay between the announcement of the recall, last week, and the first steps taken to correct the defect, Monday night was long. “In this case, we considered a priority issue a warning, even at the risk of confusion,” said Sasaki.

“Ideally, we would have liked to provide an explanation sooner. I apologize on behalf of the management for the delay,” he said.

Toyota recalled last week nearly 4.5 million vehicles in North America, Europe and China due to an accelerator pedal which, when improperly designed, may remain stuck in the down position. Production and sales of eight models affected by this defect have been suspended in North America, an unprecedented step.