US will 'hold' Toyota to safety promise: official
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WASHINGTON, Feb 9 AFP
February 10 2010, 01:06AM
President Barack Obama's administration will "hold" Toyota to its promise that the Japanese automaker takes US safety concerns seriously, says the head of the Transportation Department.
Responding to a third Toyota recall announced on Tuesday - involving brake problems with hybrid vehicles - Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood recalled that an official US probe of Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles had begun last week.
"When I spoke with Toyota President Akio Toyoda last week, he assured me that his company takes US safety concerns very seriously," LaHood said in a statement.
"The US DOT will remain in constant communication with Toyota to hold them to that promise."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a DOT agency, last Thursday opened a formal investigation of the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles, Toyota's best-selling car in Japan, in response to consumer complaints about braking difficulties.
The NHTSA had received 124 reports from consumers, including four reports alleging that crashes occurred.
"And today, Toyota has acknowledged a safety defect," LaHood said.
Toyota said on Tuesday it was recalling 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles globally to repair a flaw in the braking system.
Toyota, facing a barrage of complaints ranging from unintended acceleration to brake failure, is scrambling to reassure drivers it did not sacrifice safety in its successful drive to be the world's largest automaker.
The company is now recalling almost 8.7 million vehicles around the world - far more than its entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 million vehicles.
