Toyota Motor's rapid global expansion is not to blame for its recall of millions of vehicles worldwide due to accelerator pedal problems, a senior executive said today.
'I do not think that the expansion of the production overseas has affected the quality,' Toyota vice president Shinichi Sasaki told a news conference, at which he issued a fresh apology by the company for the massive recall.
'We have full trust in engineering and quality,' he added.
Toyota Ireland has announced that 26,000 cars will be recalled here in order to address the potential fault in the vehicle's accelerators. The recall will include vehicles from six model ranges including Avensis, Auris, Corolla and the RAV4.
Toyota said yesterday it had started shipping parts to repair the millions of vehicles recalled due to sticking accelerator pedals.
The Japanese giant said it would resume production of the eight affected models on February 8 at factories in North America and resume sales after dealers have fixed the vehicles on their lots.
Toyota pulled up to 1.8 million vehicles in Europe on Friday, the latest in a series of recalls that has affected almost eight million Toyota cars worldwide - roughly equivalent to its entire 2009 global sales.
The company is still unsure what the financial impact will be for the car maker, Sasaki said.
'The cost is going to be high but we needed to do this,' he said. 'Before we worry about the impact, we should worry about the customers and the dealers,' he added.
