Toyota chief was unaware of complaint

Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota, did not know of the problems of sudden acceleration in his company’s cars that have been linked to more than 30 deaths in the US until the end of 2009, even though thousands of complaints had been pouring into the company and regulators for years.

Giving evidence to the Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Mr Toyoda issued a profound apology to the American people for Toyota’s safety failings and admitted that they had occurred because the company had expanded too quickly.

New quality control standards would be put in place, as well as mechanisms to enable the company to pay closer attention to customer feedback, he said.

Reading from a prepared statement, which had been issued to the media the day before, Mr Toyoda said: “My name is on every car. You have my personal commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to restore the trust of our customers.”

Mr Toyoda said: “I am deeply sorry for any accident Toyota drivers have experienced.”