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Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda agreed Thursday to testify before the U.S. Congress February 24 about the Japanese auto-maker's recent massive safety recalls. He is under pressure from U.S. lawmakers to testify before Congress.
Toyoda said in a public statement that he had accepted an invitation sent by Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, to testify, after rejecting demands to attend hearings on his company's recall of over 8 million vehicles. Instead, he planned to send Yoshimi Inaba, the company's North American president, to the hearing.
"I have received Congressman Towns' invitation to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 24 and I accept," he said in the statement, adding: "I look forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people".
Following the release of the statement, Toyoda told reporters in Nagoya--near where the company's head office is based--that he "will be happy to attend. I will speak with full sincerity," according to Kyodo News.
Towns, and ranking Republican Darrell Issa (Calif.) had been pressurizing Toyoda to answer questions about the ongoing quality problems with its vehicles.
Reacting to the acceptance of their invitation by Toyoda, the two senators said that they were pleased he had accepted the invitation, and believed that his testimony would be helpful in understanding the actions the Japanese automaker was taking to ensure the safety of American drivers.
Toyota's U.S. sales unit president Jim Lentz is scheduled to appear at the first House of Representatives hearing when the House Energy and Commerce Committee met February 23.
The world's largest automaker's earlier reluctance to confront the problem head-on irked U.S. politicians, prompting U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to say the Japanese auto giant was "a little safety-deaf" as problems with various models surfaced.
Earlier this week, the U.S. ordered Toyota to hand over internal documents related to its recalls. Thursday, the committee issued a subpoena for the documents held by Dimitrios Biller, a former top lawyer for Toyota North America. The subpoena demands "all documents relating to Toyota motor vehicle safety and Toyota's handling of alleged motor vehicle defects and related litigation" that are held by Biller.
Japan's Economy Likely To Take A Hit
A study by the Daiwa Institute of Research, suggested that Toyota's recalls of nearly 8 million Toyotas since last fall, could end up costing the Japanese economy some 600 billion yen ($6.5 billion) and retard nominal gross domestic product growth by 0.12%.
Also, if potential customers shy away as a result of the recalls, domestic output could fall by 300,000 units per year, according to the study, while costing some 49,000 jobs.
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