Toyota recall update: Toyota chief promises Japanese PM to restore consumer trust

TOKYO, (KUNA): Toyota recall update: Toyota chief promises Japanese PM to restore consumer trust. Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda on Monday promised Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama that his company will build better cars to regain customer confidence and trust, which have been badly damaged due to recent massive global recalls.

"I explained that we will work hard to build better cars so people will say Toyota is once again a more transparent and customer-focused company," Toyoda told reporters following the meeting with Hatoyama. Toyoda, the grandson of the automaker's founder, said he briefed the premier on his visits to the US and China, where he testified before a US Congress about Toyota's handling of its quality problems and apologized to the public.

Toyoda also expressed confidence that sales in the North American market will recover in March after the company's new car sales in the US, its biggest market, fell 8.7 percent in February from a year earlier. "We are taking steps simultaneously for recalls and a sales recovery," he said.

Toyoda also met with Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, who is considering meeting US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to discuss the Toyota issue during his visit to the US in late April or early May. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Maehara welcomed Toyota's visit to the US and China, saying he believes Toyota's safety crisis would naturally come up.

The world's top automaker has issued recalls for 8.5 million vehicles worldwide since October, including for its popular hybrid Prius.