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Toyoda says sorry to China

March 1, 2010

The president of the Japanese car maker Toyota has apologized to consumers in China, following a series of safety problems.

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Toyota President Akio Toyoda at a press conference in BeijingImage: AP

Pledging to improve the quality of Toyota vehicles the 53-year-old was also optimistic that the firm would regain Chinese consumers' faith soon. "We hope to win back consumers' confidence in China by handling the recall as soon as possible," Toyoda said.

Toyoda's visit comes just days after China's product safety watchdog warned consumers who own Toyota models such as the Tundra, Camry or Corolla to get them checked for possible defects.

Toyota has recalled over 430,000 Prius hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems
Toyota has recalled over 430,000 Prius hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problemsImage: AP

Importance of the Chinese market

Toyota has recalled more than eight million cars worldwide over safety issues. In China, the company asked customers to take more than 75,000 RAV4 sport-utility vehicles back to dealers for safety checks in late January due to a gas pedal problem.

Though the impact of recalls in China has been limited, Toyoda's visit shows the importance of the rapidly growing Chinese market for the carmaker. China overtook the United States as the world's biggest auto market last year.

Last week Toyoda was in Washington where he faced tough questioning from US lawmakers. He offered his apologies for safety problems and pledged to help the probe. Toyota's faulty accelerators have been blamed for more than 30 deaths in the US.

du/AFP/Reuters
Editor:Grahame Lucas

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