Toyota president Akio Toyoda has formally apologised for deadly defects that have driven the world's top automaker into crisis and vowed to rebuild shattered global faith in the firm.
"I am deeply sorry," Toyoda contritely told angry US lawmakers in English at the outset of more than three hours of tough questioning sure to shape the fate of the global empire his grandfather founded 70 years ago.
He said Toyota would overhaul its quality control efforts, placing greater weight on views of consumers and non-Japanese experts than in the past, creating a new US safety post and requiring its executives to do test drives.
A top Toyoda deputy, Yoshimi Inaba, added that the company would install a system in all new North American vehicles before the end of 2010 that allowed a brake signal to the engine to override an accelerator signal.
Toyoda, whose testimony was carried live on Japanese television, emphasised his personal connection to overhauling the Japanese auto giant, telling the House oversight and government reform committee: "My name is on every car.
"You have my personal commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to restore the trust of our customers."
Three US congressional panels have launched investigations into incidents of sudden unintended acceleration blamed for nearly 40 US deaths and tied to the recall of some eight million Toyota vehicles worldwide.
Lawmakers and some drivers who survived Toyota crashes have charged the auto giant with ignoring complaints and incorrectly blaming accidents on floor mats that jam accelerators or on sticky pedals, while ignoring possible electronic problems.
Toyoda, who switched to Japanese to answer lawmakers' questions and sat mostly stonefaced through the ordeal, said through an interpreter he was "absolutely confident" electronics were not the root of the problem.
Democratic representative Marcy Kaptur denounced what she called "sudden-death acceleration" and demanded "where's the remorse?"
But Republican representative Mark Souder countered: "To some degree it seems like we're having a hanging before the trial."
He added: "I'm not saying you're not guilty" but that "there's a lot yet to be decided".
Representatives sharply criticised US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulators, saying they had reacted sluggishly to the problem despite nearly 1000 complaints.
GAME-CHANGER
Highlighting the high stakes of Toyoda's appearance, Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama said hours before the grilling that Toyoda had to "act sincerely and in good faith".
"If he does that, I think it's very possible that Toyota would gradually regain the public's trust, without making this issue a major economic problem between Japan and the United States," Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo.
US transportation secretary Ray LaHood told angry lawmakers Toyoda's appearance was a "game-changer" that showed the automaker was no longer "safety deaf" to overseas complaints and concerns.
Toyoda, 53, blamed a "too quick" expansion by Toyota, which dethroned General Motors in 2008 as the world's top automaker, for slipping safety standards and said he felt the crisis personally.
He said: "For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well. I, more than anybody, wish for Toyota's cars to be safe and for our customers to feel safe."
In Japan, transport minister Seiji Maehara announced a probe of Toyota's issues with the sudden spikes in speed but stressed that "Toyota does not receive more complaints than other automakers", considering its market share.
NOT SAFE
LaHood denied Toyota was being unfairly targeted and defended NHTSA, saying he hoped to expand its staff and vowing "we will not sleep" until all Toyota cars and trucks in the United States were safe.
Asked whether Toyota's vehicles were now safe, LaHood bluntly said any car or bakkie listed on his department's website as under recall was "not safe" until brought in for necessary repairs.
But the committee's chairman, Democratic representative Edolphus Towns, charged that: "NHTSA failed the taxpayers and Toyota failed their customers."
Towns related the chilling tale of an August 2009 Lexus crash that claimed the lives of California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor, his wife, their 13-year-old daughter, and his brother-in-law in August 2009.
As the luxury auto raced out of control, the panicked brother-in-law called police and "yelled over the phone 'hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on' and 'pray, pray.' And those were his last words," said Towns. - AFP