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发表于 2010-2-24 01:19
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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 W+ }. W; \' m8 {; P5 s" K, cBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" p& t# z/ z! n. _: ~. k
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' J! z* m- t5 j, t
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 t9 W. M& C. M# P- e# e
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( B8 O, D& H6 C6 `6 asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
2 I `9 A& X6 d* T"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 i: j- l/ u$ J4 Y8 ]causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 t$ e2 ^1 T4 f1 `& Q: E0 r
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 F. o2 o! o3 F9 @
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 F0 h+ K B/ o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 g! \. p% `4 H3 Fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 _8 o, u% d/ X8 N5 f/ x# pHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 ?8 O4 A6 t- ^ |0 mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ A' X( {" B( |
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' U7 q6 B: m3 b- Sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- S' S$ u/ O0 n6 V F
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 r+ b2 i5 G* K/ M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% Y9 D4 Y+ _) m: O& g+ \ [7 RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 {. m9 J# s& a
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# X0 L8 O) m5 P" \& RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) R8 K, y2 B) t' G. j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: b, z. [. Y6 Q3 N# _% f"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ Y9 }' r. M I4 o' w' @- H0 n
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 @9 @6 {- y5 V6 j5 k O0 Ythrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; @* `. Z2 }2 B& pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; J, I i# |5 L9 T* R6 ]
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" x* o, R% @' z: k+ a; k; x
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of0 F% B5 I b$ }! r/ U8 @8 l" E
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! i2 I( r# i/ U8 pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 i7 ^8 c% S3 n5 ?, ~( {said.
: h# l! r2 E( ~4 H- a$ T; MAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what. C* E, B% T9 N' @9 r) H
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# _) }4 o& P. X* i$ u, h6 f# `
about driving our products," Lentz said.
- E% T2 n7 }0 P+ xThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
m, D/ C2 \+ v. Aproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: u+ a6 q4 ~) N' s$ Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, L- |& n" r/ r% L1 R
million in the United States -- since last fall because of8 n& I; r1 I7 L; \4 J
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) R" J2 ^! E& u5 o9 ]) k' v! S6 }issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ v5 b. ] K1 R8 T
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 @2 {; ` v( F: xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
9 [3 A7 i6 V2 \' K2 z- ~down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 }1 A9 `, S& @+ `# n6 Z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration8 f. H+ Z* H- R e% H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 W, V% }9 W; u* uLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ T8 q% ~. j1 x( Z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 ^. p+ ]! Q% z9 c) Z k, Xunderstood the pain.
. T# S' n* a9 `( U t6 V' g"I know what those families go through," he said. }( r7 S3 {( }3 y* o% N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 T( e+ k8 c' h! H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." J8 K9 L3 x6 E. h
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- R2 q9 @, f, E* c4 V, wHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# T! }7 M7 p! B) L0 G# ?- Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ M& @) v6 d# q4 [- C7 cLentz replied: "Not totally."9 |& X" h& ^* J; s. ?
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: C0 h7 J3 ` @- g \1 w% f9 p; b; F
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" C; D. j, C8 z# X1 I+ u9 oToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: s6 H+ D* W1 vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% c; y) _; y$ M. e% Xvehicles already on the road.
8 I; |+ f1 @* w/ gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify9 W! l+ k4 E) }
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& \8 T5 X) j0 z( D* p9 N1 s( _8 X$ b
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 Q0 e2 Z6 t" d. R2 c1 f! \8 j% l1 _offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ I b3 f5 U( S( x3 \
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." H$ @6 ], v8 i1 n; ?2 q: x5 \
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 q9 j- n$ h" C" j9 ~" Rtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony6 ?. A3 P; _( W- w3 W
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* b3 F1 R: @) s/ V2 v4 j0 l2 QCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" B& H* P5 r8 P3 l. q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" k1 o4 z9 w6 O- l$ ?! r% k
restore the trust of our customers."5 M5 ?; o) q% m2 Y0 |- y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- }8 y, F$ }, a( F0 L* R, z/ e! mSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# Q* }6 v4 ^% I; F a. g$ `* n
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% W }* N, I& i* w) B) `$ T, ?& m
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 |4 p. I" Y% }: z1 B) Vhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough W" M% y* v5 N& H. b
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ Y- c8 M7 [$ T! x2 N8 j0 O
turn off the engine., ?' O% v7 k+ ]' a( M+ l
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 N7 P9 \; E5 x: Y% `
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 L0 m1 b1 V( Y3 I. F- `
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she% i! D" w& R' }( d
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& ^+ _$ ~5 b3 \; W% ?/ p
to her complaints.
# y8 V, p* G7 v' b+ `0 |# fIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" E! t9 x& c$ X7 D i! V0 l `" C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% K( d- A* y: }# o9 ?+ hmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 ~3 C& T- _ O( }- r1 w ~"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. e2 D! B9 [: W8 T3 {% i/ }' jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' N1 b% m( l ^; L% H5 _8 C& l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 ^" H8 O( V7 J
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; \1 l3 W$ r( B" G5 R+ i
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) W7 a+ f* k8 E* r1 g- C, U V8 F% gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 ^- ~- C. N$ ^" E/ w, v/ abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
4 M# K$ {- q, d7 ]! p, nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 e7 ?7 h+ L- b- p0 C' u4 _( Zevery question."
* Y( }9 c8 y5 S6 u HToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& K4 n5 ? ?' D% x& @
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
w6 l' A# `% l% Jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: U' Q! c5 ?. Zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 ~! c+ C3 o' K# G% qnumber of vehicles7 @$ T7 v: L4 r
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! R) x: g' N5 ~, Y. edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) N( G; @- Z( X. ~( v# a, M
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) y: u' ^8 m9 S7 B# `* n
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* {$ U& m5 v2 X. [1 G& VMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, [) P8 \. s" d7 W& ~9 h# ^7 D
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, f( u1 @5 K) Z7 W) t; Utrace at all.
6 \. y( e- v. F& rHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ t' O. N9 e$ v. P
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 E, _4 Y/ W3 X0 D# V! ]$ q Zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 \% q' d! }, F& p' K% D7 `
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 E C& f- j' e* o" u! d" e! F' X$ DRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) g4 m8 a! n) r9 csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- u0 U; [$ K1 g6 `8 iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* C6 x4 u% n% K6 h) nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. _4 `( {3 w6 o. fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ h( p2 c8 f+ O) ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 U8 T( T1 A6 Q# G5 w/ S( N% kby Toyota's lawyers.". g" n$ x: Q/ t8 B3 y% T
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 x6 j- d! {; N, J: Qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- @: L1 c( J% |9 k- |. dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he3 ]( r; g; x; W4 U ]! `) I- k
said.
; Z0 N& r( S, S( L. f% L6 B0 A"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 h# i$ `3 s O( r" B a6 v# ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( x) c1 Z8 p* ]1 f% ~2 Z+ H& Rgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! A! C+ M( V! l1 hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( {* E! E4 V' B6 u" u
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying4 D2 k! w. M- o5 i% I H
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* J! G! Y4 ]6 _( o1 L. {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
Z/ z5 H5 {6 K* W" E: Sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) ~: A8 J& @; d5 @2 G& U/ W
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ z- _1 p! D9 ~) ?% n
Chrysler.
, q$ H5 `/ ?1 w, z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 K, x; Z# l5 X1 s* \: ^( V4 ]
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ z% {3 O4 _$ e3 \
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 F y* D% T) \0 N1 L0 Z9 t
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete2 Y1 W0 ~5 `; R' a
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. M# k! x7 D7 \6 x7 q
tough."
" \9 b1 @$ \; T2 D {0 X---
! C, Y1 B) s( Q9 a3 bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 h+ @* C4 L! [4 W/ CRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 y* D# M- ~6 h% f4 M1 y) }this story.) z) i. a8 p u {: H0 n7 h
1 g8 @1 h& f: e% y" s, ]. P-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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