Toyota’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, has finally come out of hiding and apologize at a new conference held Friday night in Japan. Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, apologized for the recall of more than 9 million vehicles worldwide and also promised that Toyota will announce steps to address brake problems on the 2010 Prius hybrid.
This was Toyoda’s first formal appearance since the recall uproar unfolding at his company.
“I deeply regret that I caused concern among so many people,” Toyoda said. “We will do our utmost to regain the trust of our customers.”
Asked whether the Japanese automaker had underestimated the seriousness of the situation, Toyoda said: ”I believe what is happening now is a very big problem. We are in a crisis.”
Toyoda also apologized to Toyota’s shareholders for the 20 percent drop in the company’s stock in the last two weeks.
Update: We’ve added a video of Toyoda’s apology after the jump.
- By: Omar Rana
Source: NYT
