Toyota President Akio Toyoda addressed the Chinese media in Beijing and apologized to the Chinese customers for the faulty vehicles. Chinese and Indian markets have remained largely unaffected with faulty vehicle problems. Toyota models RAV4 in China experienced faulty accelerator problems which led to recall of about 75,552 vehicles in the country. However, Toyoda assured the Chinese customers that its other models like Prius or Lexus brands are unaffected. These faulty components were not used in the models sold in China.
Chinese auto market surprised the world last year when it surpassed the sales figures of the US market. It became world’s largest auto market in 2009 and tellingly, the Toyota Chief directly flew from the US to China to meet the government officials and address the queries of Chinese media.
Toyoda faced the US Congress last week for its faulty vehicles leading to recall of millions of vehicles worldwide. The issue seriously tarnished company’s image for quality especially in the US market.
