Toyota's top man conspicuous by his absence

As Toyota's recalls spread to at least 7.6 million cars across five continents, company president Akio Toyoda's only public comments on the matter have consisted of an impromptu 75-second interview with a Japanese broadcaster in Davos, Switzerland.

More than a week after Toyota said it would recall vehicles in the United States to fix defective gas pedals linked to unintended acceleration, Toyoda, 53, still has not addressed other media.

The grandson of Toyota's founder has left the task to US sales chief Jim Lentz and to executive vice-president Shinichi Sasaki, who is in charge of quality control.

"Toyota is a global company, but their way of handling this problem hasn't been up to global standards," said Yasuhiro Matsumoto, an analyst at Shinsei Securities.

"For the top executive to be invisible when there is a fatal problem for the company gives the impression that he is trying to keep a low profile and hide."

Last week, the carmaker declined to confirm Toyoda's attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he said in an unscheduled NHK television network interview, "I am deeply sorry that we're giving cause for concern to customers."

Toyota executives and public relations staff in the US and Japan clashed last week over who should appear in public to apologise.

Lentz said dealers would begin fixing accelerator pedals with kits they would receive "in the next day or so". The kits include steel plates to prevent pedals from sticking.

Yesterday there was more bad news for Toyota. The Japanese Government said it had received 14 complaints in Japan about brake problems with the popular Prius hybrid.

And the US Government's top transport official sharply criticised the carmaker for dragging its feet on safety concerns over its pedals.

Ray LaHood said federal safety officials had to "wake them up" to the seriousness of the safety issues. That included a visit to Toyota's offices in Japan to convince them to take action.

"They should have taken it seriously from the very beginning when we first started discussing it with them," LaHood said.

"Maybe they were a little safety deaf."

The pointed comments came as Toyota showed just how painful the recall has been. Sales fell 16 per cent last month, hurt by the company's decision to halt sales while it sorted out a fix for problems.

Toyota estimates its recall could cost it up to US$2 billion in lost output and sales.

The recall to fix accelerator pedals includes the top-selling Camry and Corolla models and covers 2.57 million vehicles in the US and Canada, 1.71 million in Europe and 80,000 in China.

It also includes 180,000 in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Separately, the company is recalling 5.35 million vehicles in the US because of floor mats that could jam pedals.

The problems grew last August when a California Highway Patrol officer and three family members were killed in a high-speed crash in a 2009 Lexus ES350.

The Lexus hit speeds exceeding 193km/h, struck a four-wheel-drive, shot off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames as a family member called for help.

LaHood said the seriousness of the issue was clear after officials listened to emergency call tapes from the crash.

The caller told the dispatcher that the accelerator was stuck and the vehicle was speeding up shortly before the call went dead.

- BLOOMBERG, AP