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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
& x9 \5 R3 Y m# G4 J2 f2 \By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) j+ V7 I. z: {7 }* V# }
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 n, N9 V4 m3 D& A/ V4 ^operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* R$ T" w/ O5 @2 \+ s
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! C# z' z8 L' g& O3 |3 j- K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.& v% T" n+ o- }' j' P- U
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 X0 T% [ n ~1 [7 p9 c3 y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.& E9 j7 x8 {' n' o
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
8 X9 G2 T1 k) }: Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
" @. C8 G/ l6 F+ }6 ~trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 ^; Y) ?: A ~. Zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.& P5 H) u; T% f1 B. [% k
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' I! p" P: P. A; O" _; pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& t* p6 c8 l4 I L p0 J" G
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ w& z4 L: d% Tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 N, S: t& J- g+ Z, G
not stop her runaway Lexus.+ m- Q6 t) h% X$ o0 m
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! V& P: B8 x6 x9 [( @Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 {! X2 ~( ]2 b# c"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ d! F! c, |4 h- p
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( K* k3 ]9 ^, E+ s* Iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. L* b: s' Y5 R+ g
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ [9 w" i# [0 g' t; p0 {done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. d% F- U' |5 S* ]4 @
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" P: m( l4 B( @/ f: @& D0 o
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& s* D" O# X0 X. t4 y! `. l+ d
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ v! U& C0 [) D$ Y$ f U) aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, p0 E! [! g7 A( |, Athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# M+ [ A& Y; u4 k5 d' O) Tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ |" ~* |* \" d' Xsaid.% q1 C; R% J2 [" \0 O' f& ]
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 B8 i/ b* @8 V( x/ i" R) E
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, [3 y. K9 s4 o: c9 E, {( ~about driving our products," Lentz said.6 G. `. R1 l0 Y. E! `# J0 g+ ^% a N. V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 E& ?$ c, g6 s0 } w* uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 S1 X) c/ Z2 @/ w# E
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: O0 v1 D1 J+ d' ?( q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 M0 c9 {8 E5 t3 munintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" I' P0 R$ E5 a# I. d9 Rissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ ?7 T, B0 J( [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. ~4 _7 `2 N; H: l. h" u0 K+ {. ]8 E
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' W9 q& J2 d9 N4 K; [down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, [9 r+ Q- Z; Q: y7 ?! N
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' D' U& k% N Z& Jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. X8 A f% F5 d7 W0 G& _. H
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: `+ M& t6 s2 bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
$ _- i ^2 w4 Z; Vunderstood the pain.
0 h) T" C, [! j' ]1 t/ L+ P% t"I know what those families go through," he said.
) [. a% E, D) x1 n6 f. h4 ALentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ q! H- M# X+ {& i: g8 ~ R
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' s4 }( `. h+ U9 N* {' T; T% U/ WBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) j% Y9 N9 \' u* U) U8 ]
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: e ^8 F7 v: L6 {) P/ r: K
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; w' ]- d1 Z( R& J3 Y. pLentz replied: "Not totally."
2 }. s. v: U N- d5 b0 `: ^Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) ]$ L' q) L# p"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
9 ]8 A9 r. |' `; N9 W5 ?* N$ XToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. s% e+ q9 |5 B. B
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- Q X; z g3 E" T/ G* Ovehicles already on the road.0 f1 ^" H' E& k! X( H1 g3 n0 l: ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( h) A4 K5 h. B6 m/ J2 v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* y$ D* L, g( Y/ Z& g, G- cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 g! H7 d* Y* A- t- z6 W* h- X
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 U- f1 ]8 R/ C' V% I3 Rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 g2 `; Z0 k: L
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! k* \( }: K5 ]3 w m3 W5 t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& n F, F8 n) n+ q( q5 l. i6 G: wfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, ~- g% T. u0 H+ V% h R( d; kCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' G2 d* n) u) u$ Ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 [5 e+ c& S3 c8 N# u Crestore the trust of our customers."0 f9 {/ b; Z/ Y& R- h3 f
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ D7 v$ o3 D0 A. M( KSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ v/ |9 f, Z% w3 c) bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ `; _# r8 j G( |' E% D" n
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 a2 x1 e+ ]2 Y3 R* ^
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# D# v' J( x+ I
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( ]$ g! E- p- g/ T! G) @$ B: \ M
turn off the engine.
8 r% |/ q& ^9 a7 aFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 p1 o6 ]! u8 p! n
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." w. r7 z8 v. F4 B2 a8 ~
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 |7 @5 {6 C* s0 @- Isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& G4 g$ [' q8 n3 u' ^' Tto her complaints.; {4 w4 s7 ~! K3 t7 z
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; `" [& A: ]8 R
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 O+ c6 C8 K7 Xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 P' I+ h' R2 @0 N; f
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( R8 M+ n0 L4 I: g$ p; uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ E; N" U/ s! `+ a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, p. d8 C5 H3 \# n6 p( \. t. F! O
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ N$ h; R% k% A5 X& V, W3 Y% N. PTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& b, f: D8 h2 K" J" F- U3 p! oprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 R& T, I. V) Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( I' {1 v0 S# S w7 fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; v' y5 v3 y7 I2 V6 j# @every question."' N% i: a/ F% }
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% H2 H" o- P4 K4 |9 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ ?* C- Q4 S* |5 d9 @
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# V5 Z9 j! c7 C& \- u( w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small) z( ]: h, U$ @+ N# d2 z" m8 ]7 R
number of vehicles
' [1 w, ?& U( G9 X! t0 RTracking down an electrical problem can be far more" q2 P! D* D3 r* p+ N$ V
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. o; v' W+ O( A/ V5 u4 } }8 rmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 m& H; n) r; r5 n! lsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 I' e) ]9 D! I; Q" s3 j2 p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' n2 ?" h3 v& c( k" \& H% n
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 f0 V) y* |# j! L L* {
trace at all.+ K' U! b8 |. R0 r b- _
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 B& y/ d2 T* ~" a$ F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
, ]5 w# }* |9 `# \& Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 f7 G6 X) I- C
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
3 a( h1 p; s) V. WRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ y' W1 U, J- m2 i
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ ?) p4 `2 i' d& w% k8 m
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 T3 C# h# W0 S: V( T# ?
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' A( Q4 O$ M5 M2 |" l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ _. x3 E$ G* Y( R |
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! ]0 c. ^0 U! U5 R6 D0 D
by Toyota's lawyers."4 e9 D. G" G1 j, w W
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, I: z$ N6 ? M5 m/ t# }- `$ Cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 f0 {- J" o- }; _9 c! x
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# b8 E" n Q7 F0 \. [
said.+ ?2 O6 C9 L( O5 U# N
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 i' ^. G; m X9 ^8 |
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our @+ N) `2 t& u
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 z1 u" U' r. s* B0 o: o v1 u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. l4 [. e' h8 E+ KSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! y' S. V J/ y& }) v- y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% D+ I5 x/ d$ t7 r: v }6 }rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 C% f5 j. }8 b9 B7 ~
automaker, at least in part because of the government's% H/ G* c8 R& Y' m( Y
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; z1 V" R3 u) d. X% B& x% DChrysler.
) j4 h; |- Y& v) P- r5 w. D"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 q3 f5 h% M$ Z. N" idollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; \$ q D2 u$ o# g' ^Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 }3 Q6 U0 c# rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 B9 H& d; B# W, Q+ r* e2 {
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 }) t: X( _; @3 E" \$ etough."4 S2 M0 B0 G8 q' M2 U7 J6 l
---
$ i) G8 `! h* f6 ZAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom- w% l- [( |+ }
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) N1 Q: i, q N% f3 I" e
this story.
5 i; h8 D2 Y3 }/ G" R& H
5 c1 g7 m A5 }* N! Q) l5 ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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