Toyota chief to testify before US House committee

Toyota Motor  Corp. president Akio Toyoda yesterday said he would appear before Congress next week.

Toyoda said he has received an invitation from the chairman of the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Edolphus Towns to testify before the committee on 24 February.

"I look forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people," chief of the world's largest automaker said in a statement yesterday.

Toyoda said in Tokyo that he would like to explain matters "in all sincerity" to the US Congress next week.

On 10 February Toyoda made a public apology for safety problems, saying that he said the company would bring in outside experts to review quality controls (See: Toyota shares move up on Toyoda apology).

According to analysts, the presence of the CEO of the world's top-selling auto maker will evince keen interest among the public.

Toyota earlier said the head of its North American sales operations, Yoshimi Inaba, would testify in the US congressional hearings.

The company voluntarily recalled 437,000 of its Prius hybrid vehicle and Lexus Sedan globally to fix brake related problems after having recalled more than 8 million vehicles since last month because off defective accelerator pedals (See: Toyota recalls 437,000 Prius and Lexus vehicles).