 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|

楼主 |
发表于 2010-2-24 01:19
|
显示全部楼层
丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
# O. L9 _- O6 J( ~5 K; eBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
2 J! J; D2 l7 o9 y- q# oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. D" R B0 u _5 I% A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 x$ }8 `& s1 A Y6 D; V
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# K5 ?; G5 G) s8 Y' ~% L }solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
2 G' ?6 x- a7 _/ ~3 u"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% @, I" m" N( X, ^) P7 w% n
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 j1 i8 k7 c% N* ~0 ]" PHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" b1 g5 N2 W0 \1 D
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( z4 L$ L- K5 X8 otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. J4 O* }, v# T$ f @& imats and sticking accelerator pedals.2 e+ K) E, F) I+ @: ^% j
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; u& K: y3 }3 Q( {9 P
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& D* m+ D6 i+ B, P
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be6 P3 S5 R0 p! l7 e* Z* e$ P6 }
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& D8 f; e5 c' \% Tnot stop her runaway Lexus.
$ v, b# P2 o7 Q/ M0 E/ l+ i1 v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) A! B! {+ `/ V' u0 P0 A. U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 `) \( A4 l: q- [% g/ ]* y* ["shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." b7 R# o1 [1 a2 Y! C' F
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" ^, a2 ^7 T7 w6 s9 m4 _- Hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' @9 x1 \6 }4 U7 u( s3 I4 ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! q# J+ [5 P( a0 J. j* y. K% Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 f9 P1 R. b' G% [, I( Sthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 r, v/ K7 e7 _# r
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 p: H% w, d" e& G
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 [* _) N4 H9 j% M1 J/ u) |4 C! telectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of) d6 G8 N* e* m; Q( c
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- W# d! D8 V" q1 b" e
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) R: l) P, J' \
said.
7 L! [+ }. B( o! o% M; t- ?As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what9 O7 J: j9 Z7 ?0 C! m
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. A6 Z0 X D" z; y5 \
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; T! s M# |" C6 |" FThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( s: s. c! v8 y* Sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, l' ` a3 w& M- Nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) A/ a' b* g$ J+ @: g3 U' a5 a$ d2 Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
, d! [5 S2 \1 ^. Xunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, {* o2 r1 R" R/ @7 R- l1 Z$ A2 J
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) k/ C$ M+ {) p$ U) x8 c/ Tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' ?8 e6 b' Y( `2 K' o: Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! k8 ?! S9 Q+ O% N- V: v- O
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 L" A5 e+ P- P E2 n/ T9 C. N
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* ~$ N* ~( z+ W3 {7 n6 T
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. M6 M1 |/ {' s9 t7 ~- d. d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 n) N( {, ^6 Y/ w
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. Z/ Y$ y7 s* e6 j. A0 Uunderstood the pain.
: b& C9 o- {* X2 N! I"I know what those families go through," he said.6 g% \/ | ~. |# P
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
3 V9 C9 V! T! u" V qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., y0 u( z- U$ A0 o& `6 D; [* d/ ~
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* v+ A- X% J1 ^4 W K, Z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 g6 {; O8 i1 y: N$ t
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# P- d! O9 ^& D( f! L9 J) `
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
: }* m6 [2 ]0 A+ s8 pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) } p2 W8 ^- S- A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- c+ b3 ]+ N9 R5 r, f- LToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
8 }6 M. |- p7 J$ v, i$ M' Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ ]5 M7 Y& o! ]& q5 |, |4 n5 `3 Qvehicles already on the road.
1 ^; I0 I9 n9 [- tMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 t0 V) z0 d7 i6 g" K- E0 Rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 Y# B- X! b% a5 `6 O" `
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& Y& Y3 i% n( }8 B, I! p* h. voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( C- G4 _& w& s- @1 \ m* t( L5 qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 f+ L& @( t% x) G" Q% h- P2 G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 |$ _, p- k, [& S0 W
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) Q8 I1 m% [: K/ O2 H
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 ? p* y' N# X+ p$ U
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 @: h0 m E7 B8 A/ H1 ]) Z/ S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- b, H, j+ E V6 p0 w" |restore the trust of our customers."
6 T2 g0 L' K: A' |( K' k' ?Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& L$ |7 l. W3 { ?& B, l6 o* u0 Q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" \3 j. D7 a% t1 c
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --3 G$ S- c- A5 _) ]
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; G2 Z3 _& ]( J4 H3 ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 D# u0 n! m; P: L; }/ G: B
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 U$ r4 k( F7 y- f% e4 j7 Wturn off the engine.; d" Y% Z# e& `1 B+ _
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) {3 D( l; N2 K$ B5 B& i! ]October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 _/ D; k5 o% _0 i6 e. `"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 }& f: O8 D$ b% Q8 [! ~# vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
. e3 a+ L/ Z9 G, T4 F" ]# |to her complaints.
6 B! o9 w) t/ t+ o+ X6 h" JIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 N- B T2 h" c3 d- [/ }
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 }: z% H3 Y/ j
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) V0 a! J' f X; Q0 ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ ~2 N3 E+ ?5 F7 Q6 uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ g3 l. Y: y$ G6 i3 w0 h; E"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( B$ U. Q3 N5 g4 B& R9 e7 foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! X2 {7 v9 S8 D* J( i, d6 STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, {. O; K s8 k0 g. Zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 ^. f$ x) T8 O; O+ o; A' d( k
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! I7 n, |, X, U. ]: R/ |, }1 Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- C4 B7 j' I! n- m0 \) ^5 U# p! f$ g6 @
every question."
; W9 V0 ?" R' I2 u/ L4 LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& u3 e* }' v6 Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% }% n# y) y" D) F& q4 Wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, {* b! e+ m8 Q4 S# hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 B3 w% |6 c+ g7 A( Y; F
number of vehicles/ n+ E/ i" o- J; q& ?
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 l9 C# l1 I6 ]# [" m, ? a7 a
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 R/ g6 R+ Q% Q2 s
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; i1 p0 `2 v' {7 ^
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 _9 |" g( o$ `4 A) Q0 F' d$ J$ dMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; h1 Y( \" T* c3 b
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' z" {7 ?, e5 \" q" u( j
trace at all.
& a: Q/ [: x) o, i) a/ YHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 ^6 ~0 W3 I2 bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 f- z6 }; C# K# a7 B* Y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 H6 L! t) @; ~- O+ Z1 z
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( ~7 a+ g$ q1 Q5 g( ]2 M. Z e/ |
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,+ w& H* r4 `( @$ Z. L! i4 Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ E) \$ {& m; M9 Z3 o0 v! iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ r- z' r) O6 M' V" T/ ?3 Y3 K, L
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; X- k. G. h! C2 A+ n3 t; r; \
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* W+ V2 S# v4 O5 A( f2 Y7 k
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ h5 m9 J" m# ?: c7 X4 r' Q
by Toyota's lawyers."7 [; J) R0 h" l1 F8 z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, Y! x5 [8 u% A" G" z/ O* n
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
7 H) O0 _+ ^2 n5 |, Zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he O9 Y# j! }5 Y9 F- H
said.
! o4 U( g5 X" n, |% q5 [. h8 a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* b. ]; N3 K' I3 N
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 L8 O% G2 v- _
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating6 S* p9 J' M+ R& S" I$ \: V
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 G5 Z/ W6 t) a
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 s% p( S6 [' z6 T& ~6 p$ xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! Q, P6 O8 U9 q! I6 Erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- i; f O( x6 Y) o9 ^
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
* w& T; S1 O9 R( |- t' ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and4 b& q( @3 Q v: ?9 F
Chrysler.
/ E+ ~9 e. r, v# w"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ m- W& }# b# Z6 m1 e( h
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ G& @0 W9 q% W0 B' AHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ Y( ^ l- N, x: P* d, X9 u! |* ]' Mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% V) o+ h' Y& R+ ~
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# C0 c& z1 u0 m* v1 U6 ?* dtough."6 u3 H H2 n5 f4 d, }1 g( c/ J, I% E
---
) {1 w3 s! \* p! B7 U2 tAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ ?2 M/ u4 _& L( [8 J# ^2 _( }6 h
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 W3 F1 I( I4 n
this story.
3 F1 G2 ]3 ^+ D2 ]9 T! ]
% Q/ s: M0 ^% r, ~) ?$ ?& a, o-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|