Toyota Recall Update #22: Toyota President Apologizes for Recalls

TOKYO —Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda, in his current job only seven months, extended an unusually personal apology on Friday to Toyota owners: "I deeply regret that I caused concern among so many people. We will do our utmost to regain the trust of our customers."

The 53-year-old Toyoda, great-grandson of company founder Sakichi Toyoda, had been keeping an extremely low profile over the past two months as Toyota's recall woes have unfolded.

Since November, Toyota has recalled nearly 10 million vehicles around the world, mostly to correct defects in pedals and floor mats related to unintended acceleration.

Now it faces the potential recall of nearly 300,000 2010 Prius models to address braking issues that have triggered formal government safety investigations in the U.S. and Japan.

Toyoda, at his Friday news conference, said the company would soon announce how it would address the Prius brake problems. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei Daily, citing unnamed sources, said the company was preparing the possible recall of more than 270,000 Priuses to correct the brake problem.

Source: Indiacar.com Source : http://www.insideline.com (2/5/2010)