As Toyota president Akio Toyoda again apologized for deadly vehicle flaws in remarks distributed on Feb. 23, he admitted the expansion of the world's number one automaker "may have been too quick."
"Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick," he was to tell U.S. lawmakers.
He acknowledged, in the remarks prepared for delivery on Feb. 23, that Toyota's normal "priorities became confused, and we were not able to stop, think, and make improvements as much as we were able to before."
Toyoda again apologized for the flaws in the auto giant's vehicles which have led to sudden acceleration problems, blamed for about 30 U.S. deaths and which led to millions of cars being recalled.
"I regret that this has resulted in the safety issues described in the recalls we face today, and I am deeply sorry for any accidents that Toyota drivers have experienced," he said in the prepared text.
The Toyota boss will appear on Feb. 23 before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform after other Toyota executives came under fire on Feb. 22 in a different hearing into the recalls.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
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