* Toyoda says to cooperate with US gov't investigation
* Issa says NHTSA faces scrutiny for 'decade of neglect'
* Japan opens probe into sudden acceleration
Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T)
(TM.N) president pledged to cooperate fully with U.S government
officials investigating safety problems on Wednesday as he
prepared to tell a congressional panel that the automaker had
let standards slip in its rise to the top.
Akio Toyoda arrived at a congressional office building on
Wednesday morning, hours before his scheduled testimony for
U.S. lawmakers. He read a short statement in Japanese to
waiting reporters.
"This is a very valuable opportunity to appear today and I
am very grateful to Congress for this invitation," said Toyoda,
who was accompanied by Yoshi Inaba, Toyota's chief of North
American operations.
"Safety is our top priority and I intend to cooperate fully
with the U.S. government," he said.
Toyoda, who has appeared uneasy with the global spotlight
in the past month, waited for a translator to deliver his short
statement in English and then walked briskly off when prompted
by an aide, declining to take questions from reporters.
Toyoda's appearance before a congressional panel marks the
dramatic peak so far of a safety crisis that broke a month ago
with a series of recalls that now includes more than 8.5
million vehicles globally.
Toyota, founded by Toyoda's grandfather, now faces a
criminal investigation and a securities probe in the United
States as well as unresolved questions about hundreds of
incidents of unintended acceleration reported by consumers.
Toyoda is one of nine witnesses set to appear before a
congressional panel on Wednesday. The same panel will also
hear from a relative of Mark Saylor, an off-duty California
Highway Patrol officer who was killed last August, along with
three members of his family, when the Toyota Lexus sedan he was
driving sped out of control.
Toyoda and Inaba are due to appear in the second panel of
witnesses on Wednesday, after U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood and David Strickland, head of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
In his prepared testimony, Toyoda extended his condolences
to the Saylor family and said he was "deeply sorry" that the
company had allowed its standards for quality to slip during a
period of fast growth over the past decade.
Toyota has promised internal reforms intended to increase
attention to safety and ensure that future recalls happen more
quickly in response to consumer complaints.
'A DECADE OF NEGLECT'
Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House
Oversight and Government Reform panel, said regulators at the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had to face as
much scrutiny as Toyota.
"We're going to hold NHTSA accountable for a decade of
neglect just as much as Toyota," said Issa, who has been
outspoken about the need for Toyoda himself to appear before
Congress.
"He's the only person who can bring real change on behalf
of his company," he told Reuters Insider.
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