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| From © The Saginaw News |
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Kildee: Toyota attempts to hide vehicle defects 'inexcusable' |
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February 25, 2010By Barrie Barber |
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U.S. Rep. Dale E. Kildee chastized Toyota for attempts to hide safety defects and avoid vehicle recalls to save money, based on an internal company document congressional sources have cited.
Toyota executives face congressional hearings this week in Washington, D.C., over reports linking 34 deaths in the United States to safety defects in Toyota cars and trucks over the past decade, The Associated Press reported.
“They absolutely hid things that cost people’s lives and that is inexcusable,” said Kildee, D-Flint, co-chairman of the Congressional Automotive Congress. “It’s outrageous.”
Toyota has recalled 8.5 million vehicles, with more than 6 million of them in the United States, mostly to fix problems with floor mats trapping gas pedals or with pedals getting stuck. Toyota President Akio Toyoda told Congress his company has made strides to put “safety first” and has worked to refit millions of recalled cars and trucks.
At least one congressional lawmaker has referred to a July 2009 internal Toyota document that boasted of a “win” for Toyota in striking a deal with the U.S. government for a more limited recall involving floor mats. The document said the agreement saved the company $100 million.
“They got themselves into this because they let their quality drop,” said Kildee, who’s from the hometown of General Motors Co. “There’s no question about that and worse, they did it out of greed for profit.”
Toyota officials have pledged to fix the vehicles and improve safety.
Meanwhile, lawmakers also have taken the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration to task for not acting more aggressively on thousands of complaints over a decade on sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles.
The federal agency “failed the taxpayers and Toyota failed their cutomers,” said U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. |
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