TOYOTA CITY, JAPAN — Signaling renewed scrutiny over Toyota’s handling of a string of defects in its vehicles, Ray LaHood, the U.S. transportation secretary, said Monday that U.S. regulators would vigilantly monitor the automaker’s steps to improve its safety record and would consider additional penalties depending on the outcome of a review of documents submitted by Toyota. þþ“These measures are important measures, but the proof is in the pudding,” Mr. LaHood told reporters following meetings with Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, which the secretary described as “serious and frank,” at the automaker’s headquarters in Toyota City. þþ“It’s fine to have measures in place, but we must make sure they are carried out. We will continue to be vigilant about the safety of drivers in America,” Mr. LaHood said at a joint press conference with Mr. Toyoda. “We will not compromise and we will not sleep. We will work 24/7 to make sure all Toyotas are safe.” þþMr. LaHood’s visit to the headquarters comes in the wake of recalls of more than nine million Toyota vehicles worldwide for faulty accelerator pedals that have tarnished the automaker’s reputation for quality. þþThe recalls were the subject of U.S. Congressional hearings earlier this year. The automaker’s handling of reports of sudden acceleration in its vehicles have come under particular scrutiny in the United States. þþOn April 18, Toyota agreed to pay a $16.4 million fine imposed by the Transportation Department, which charged that the company hid information about one of the pedal-related recalls. It was the largest penalty ever handed out to an automaker in the United States. þþMr. LaHood said his department was investigating 500,000 internal documents submitted by Toyota and would consider additional measures, including penalties, based on the findings. He said, however, that it would be “a while” before its review was complete. þþ“If we find that something is not quite the way it’s supposed to be, we’ll address that,” Mr. LaHood said. þþToyota has not admitted fault, blaming problems with internal communications for any delays in issuing recalls and saying the company never deliberately withheld information. þþBut to address harsh criticism in the United States, Toyota appointed a chief quality officer and has vowed to improve communications within the company and with federal safety regulators. It has promised to speed up recall decisions by giving more autonomy to its local offices. The company also set up a quality advisory panel for North America headed by a former U.S. transportation secretary, Rodney Slater, to make sure complaints are relayed back to headquarters more quickly. þþ“As I told Secretary LaHood, Toyota places utmost importance on customer safety,” Mr. Toyoda said. “I believe we are making strong progress delivering on our commitments. Our entire company has mobilized to ensure that Toyota vehicles remain safe and reliable.” þþHe said the new regional focus on safety would “act as a voice of the customers in North America and work to ensure that customer concerns are swiftly addressed.” þþ“We are giving our local regions a greater role in making safety decisions and are sharing information across regions on a more timely basis,” Mr. Toyoda said. “This is contributing to quicker action.” þþHe pointed to the company’s swift handling of recalls of the Lexus GS 460 luxury SUV, issued last month over problems with the cars’ electronic stability control systems. Mr. LaHood praised Toyota for its response, Mr. Toyoda said. þþMr. Toyoda pledged to cooperate fully with federal investigations. þþ“I hope you understand that we have never hidden anything, and we have never misled,” he said. þþThough Toyota has been the main target of criticism over its recent recalls, U.S. regulators have also come under fire for reacting too slowly to potential problems at Toyota. Because federally required recalls are a lengthy and cumbersome process, virtually all recalls are voluntary actions by the carmakers. þþLast week, Congress took the first steps toward a comprehensive auto safety bill that would require devices like black boxes and brake override systems in cars sold in the United States and strengthen federal regulators’ enforcement powers. þþThe bill is Congress’s first serious look at auto safety in a decade since reforms passed after fatal accidents involving Firestone tires on the Ford Explorer. þþThe recalls have come as a blow to Toyota as it is recovering from the global economic crisis, which drove down auto sales worldwide. þþToyota posted an annual loss for the first time in decades in the year to March 2009, losing $4.4 billion. Last month, Moody’s downgraded Toyota’s credit rating, warning that recall woes and a still-sluggish economy would weigh on the automaker’s bottom line for some time. þþBut Toyota’s sales have been making a rebound. In March, global sales jumped 26 percent from the previous year, while global production surged 80 percent. Toyota is due on Tuesday to release earnings for the fiscal year that ended in March. þþ
Source: NY Times
