Toyoda Leads Quality Task Force But Is a Washington No-Show
By Michelle Krebs February 17, 2010Toyota Motor Co. President Akio Toyoda, in a press conference held in Japan, said he would 
personally lead a global task force to improve quality-control management, but he would not appear at Congressional hearings in Washington next week.
In his third news conference in two weeks, Toyoda also said the automaker is examining steering complaints on its Toyota Corolla. A recall of the Corolla, one of the world's best-selling cars, is possible.
Toyoda further confirmed the automaker plans to install brake-override systems in its future models. He said Toyota also will make better use of the onboard black boxes in its vehicles to alert management to problems.
Washington No-Show Criticized
Toyoda's decision not to go to Washington immediately drew criticism around the globe, even from analysts in the automaker's native Japan.
"Unless Toyoda appears at the Congress, things won't settle," Koji Endo, managing director at Advanced Research Japan Co., a Tokyo-based equity research firm, told Bloomberg News. "Some lawmakers are requesting Toyoda's appearance, so if he turns this down he will face criticism in the U.S."
Instead of Toyoda, Yoshimi Inaba, the company's North America president, will testify at the Washington hearings next week.
Toyoda plans an eventual trip to the U.S. though details are not yet set. -- Michelle Krebs, Senior Analyst and Editor at Large
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No Show Akio lives up to his name. With the US being Toyota's largest market, they need the US more than the US needs Toyota.
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