Members of the US Congress tore into the president of Toyota yesterday, telling him he had put profit before American lives and demanding that the Japanese company ends what they called a culture of secrecy over safety.
Akio Toyoda, grandson of the carmaker's founder, made an extraordinary public apology beforea House of Representatives committee, and said Toyota had expanded so fast that it had lost sight of consumers.
Toyoda had flown to Washington DC to try to diffuse a growing public relations disaster which began last September amid reports that accelerators in some best-selling Toyota cars were malfunctioning and causing fatal crashes.
With 39 deaths now linked to so-called "unintended acceleration", and 8.5 million Toyota vehicles recalled for repair worldwide, his appearance promised to be an unprecedented and humbling piece of theatre for a foreign corporate leader.
"If the Camry and the Prius were aeroplanes, they would have been grounded," said Edolphus Towns, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
Referring to thousands of documents subpoenaed before the hearing, he added: "There is striking evidence that the company was at times more concerned with profit than with customer safety."
Toyoda apologised to the victims of fatal crashes and promised to overhaul Toyota's culture and management.
Ray LaHood, the Secretary of Transportation, said Toyota had become safety-deaf but Toyoda's decision to travel to the US had been a game-changer.
He said his department would push Toyota for answers.
