Take a bow, Mr. Toyoda.
The shamed president of the embattled Toyota Motor Corp. finally got his apology right — giving a much deeper bow of contrition in announcing the Prius recall yesterday than in his much-maligned attempt last week.
After being ripped by Japanese media for a shallow bow on Friday, Akio Toyoda, grandson of the firm’s founder, dipped deeply in the traditional gesture of humility.
“I don’t see Toyota as an infallible company that never makes mistakes,” he told reporters from the corporation’s Nagoya headquarters. “We will face up to the facts and correct the problem, putting customers’ safety and convenience first.”
Toyoda leaned forward a good 60 degrees as he apologized for the recall of 437,000 Prius hybrids for a potentially dangerous glitch with the braking software. It still fell short of the 75 degrees Japanese society would traditionally demand for such a crisis.
Adding to the company’s woes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is looking into 80 complaints of faulty steering wheels on 2009 and 2010 Corollas.
The alleged flaw has caused cars to wander uncontrollably.
Also, Toyota said it will recall 7,300 Camry 2010 sedans because of a possible brake-fluid leak.
Experts lauded the company president’s response to the latest trouble.
“He wanted to really show how truly sorry he was for causing inconvenience to everyone,” said Kazue Kurahara, a Japanese lecturer at Hunter College.
Just as important was Toyoda’s choice of the word “infallible,” said Edward Lincoln, director of New York University’s Center for Japan-US Business and Economics.
“He had to admit to himself that the company made mistakes. That’s supposed to be the way quality control works,” he said. “He’s starting to take steps in a better direction.”
But the Japanese press still criticized him for not outlining a concrete action plan, and the Japanese government publicly worried that US-Japan relations could be damaged.
Toyoda, 53, said he’ll make a trip to the United States to discuss the 8.5 million-vehicle recall for sticky accelerators, as well as the relatively smaller Prius recall.
Japanese and US regulators received about 200 complaints about braking delays on the Prius in cold weather or on bumpy roads.
The company said it can correct the hesitations, caused by the onboard computer switching between hydraulic and electric brakes, with a software upgrade.
In addition to the Prius, about 14,000 hybrid Lexus HS250h sedans are also affected.
Separately, State Farm, the largest US auto insurer, said it alerted federal regulators in 2007 of a spike in uncontrolled acceleration in Toyotas, but it is unclear whether authorities took any action.
Congress postponed hearings on the Toyota’s troubles until Feb. 24 because of the snow.