Toyota City (Japan), March 30 (DPA) Toyota Motor Corp launched an offensive to improve the quality of its vehicles after recalls of millions of cars that severely damaged the company’s reputation, the world’s largest carmaker said Tuesday.
“We want to newly examine all quality processes,” Toyota chief Akio Toyoda said at the first meeting of the global quality control task force at the company headquarters in Toyota City west of Tokyo.
“We want to win back our consumers’ trust,” said the chairman of the quality committee, which has 50 members from around the world.
Toyota had to recall more than eight million cars to fix problems with gas pedals and floor mats that caused unintended acceleration. Three-quarters of the affected cars had been sold in the US.
At the same time, it had to recall almost half a million of its best-selling Prius hybrid cars because of faulty brakes.
US authorities are investigating 52 deaths in connection with the technical defects, but Toyota’s responsibility has been proven in few cases so far.
