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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题

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发表于 2010-2-24 15:48 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
老杨团队,追求完美;客户至上,服务到位!
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; J  ~; D" v$ S7 m' W% j  L
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, Q* w7 H3 V6 s7 V( W- f. _& P% soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! a" ]4 m4 y* J7 h- v4 B' O1 M
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 I. L' J3 K% ^( T3 L% v! C& N6 x1 w
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' r& f' B, e. W: L: H3 K"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ [9 }% a. o7 x* E1 y9 Scauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.& g* y* J  b6 o- F2 q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected5 V2 d7 A: f" d) ^3 {
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ Z( H, O2 Z9 X; `5 l$ p* J5 `5 h
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* z  y' f. t- E- W
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
5 P# R, O/ p5 l4 R* hHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* j6 h" j- U4 k4 J  H# E
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ B: W6 X4 Q! f  M; I% \
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ r7 ^' c& \  C' W6 u& W+ C9 Rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 u7 Z9 o9 J; g
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: b0 |$ ?. i7 r9 u" b' P# U" P& O"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( A& h$ k" I, w4 N" J8 _1 A
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 x& K( A$ s! H! |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 p; o' H6 Y0 a/ b) k! B' V& D& qTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# i4 q2 ]( I6 E& [early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 `/ k8 A- M; `9 q; U! f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- J4 A' {; a1 b8 u$ g5 \4 k% m9 n
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. b2 F) U5 d' N7 R- W. Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% R( Q- S% Q. D# U# Y( qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 ~: N8 P* n! N. j8 |
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- w* }# Q( ?/ L, ~
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 }( k' K0 c" N, v4 qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) r/ z8 R' k* Umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he% V. k- h* n. ]! y1 |( G0 e2 `; M+ `
said.
/ P& W- f8 Z% {As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 v0 A8 d2 S& [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 C9 }; S. K' y: G3 |
about driving our products," Lentz said.; i) q6 Y& G0 k8 ^) a6 X: P" W4 e
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( G* C3 t. R" q* o! ?8 H, a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 S. V5 y0 [1 \, X: Z7 |3 u
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, C7 \3 K; Y5 }* `3 w1 B& t
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 g4 {% M: i5 ?/ {unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
$ _- [( k# K/ k$ ]9 ]( }  vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering5 r, y$ @! y  y2 W) S0 ?& [% V0 O0 o
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- s1 m2 f' d( H8 ~their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, Z, a4 ~  j; o) x; l# pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 U* ~2 m1 o8 F( w. c. {( Hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 k7 G0 R9 o$ v  S1 ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% F/ A: |/ U- L6 ]- F9 XLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ g8 E8 s) N- a' s
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# ]9 i, f8 u% N% I$ j( \5 {8 ]* Ounderstood the pain.9 r8 [$ r2 t/ X
"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 q) S6 V& V0 C, R+ K  o  [Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! V8 ?+ O  e3 ?2 C) [2 D6 U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 _1 z' B6 Q+ I* y) o+ F! FBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" _5 N  {6 ?* [; L0 jHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( q4 @( M' p- C% Y( {in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 u$ w- t8 n2 y. @6 }: U0 U  k3 t9 i# eLentz replied: "Not totally."* y3 n3 ?, ?& @/ w( c
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
- Q/ Y5 J0 \0 F1 I+ S9 B3 T"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) _' x% i3 }: Z8 w; f/ s0 x" ^  EToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" U: |# X3 [: _- \: apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ G5 |, }3 X5 ^% V3 l% O
vehicles already on the road.) `5 _$ m* [+ e$ b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 O+ x7 }" T% s* I8 r8 ^before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 c- `/ G% [/ r( |/ g( {
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 q) P9 L2 B% C  {  I, l
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 P# O9 V* u+ Dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems., {* Z& j4 @1 G
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: [! f' t* Y( G$ E: V2 W
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 o7 V& R" W% \: N+ a7 J) R. X- I% h" vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# o2 |1 _, w; WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( m* s% W- u2 u# M7 n9 B) B4 p6 O
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ ~" G8 p  K& r2 L0 O3 k& s
restore the trust of our customers."
! ?* n/ U% V  j6 wLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from% j! v0 K1 A+ v7 X, R
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 `% C) B# L5 m' t
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" H0 s9 b2 `8 y- `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% [8 u3 B# f0 D( v, Z) q, m4 zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ D- e2 X8 d8 b( sthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ K. O& q" c9 _2 T
turn off the engine.* f3 r+ ]/ e. q! c8 J+ \/ z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 r. h- Y2 S3 S. FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& ]7 C3 \9 q( G# p% T2 }
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! A. U* N4 |- U! m& s, n6 u4 H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& r3 u0 L8 W/ t- x6 m
to her complaints.4 I1 i8 Y: L3 L% o( Q' `
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. J: {& |/ u7 A' |8 m
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic& x3 y+ X* z- P$ G' ?6 ]
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, F) }$ X$ s( \# o- |. e6 P"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 f/ i* i% L' f: B2 W2 G
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: n7 Y/ v, M7 \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ B; M, x2 M$ |! k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". B' u$ _& t6 b8 M( J5 n5 X6 V
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 C  A1 s5 S8 z
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! ?/ [, z9 t. ~being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& C, V. m; y: S0 @! R5 ]were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* J% F* T6 Q6 @) f3 h& x: ]- _. w
every question."' ?2 ^" H  j$ j% C
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 Q- w' g7 d( L6 X* f
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" p$ ^; Q7 g9 R* B$ A  mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ r  g$ _9 k4 T  F  e( a1 A/ z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# ~: m/ Y: M7 k. U
number of vehicles
. n3 P1 O- h) I/ m4 _  M. X# ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& U4 `. p. e' Y$ }9 |difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' G$ p0 C# ^/ y  R4 B/ I1 V
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) e; u$ A0 N& J9 asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 Z4 j; V. Z& B3 z' TMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& Q  c% M: g- Dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. X! V2 v1 I; J7 btrace at all.! M$ ]5 U4 f) g% q& ]" Q) u
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 v8 c6 W& H* v- z" E. ]database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 q6 T9 ^$ p: s4 Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 i5 Z5 _- ]- H( B
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 J( s. ?* E0 g! ZRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; u/ ]' V( A7 n7 |; K# B
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. ]+ Y1 C6 O9 A  Vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" O5 J6 h" T( K4 \, Ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" |9 J  z; ?" U
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 s0 ~& F: z! T, P( Fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" W( q* q9 O/ y6 `" j
by Toyota's lawyers."+ N8 w$ E: I7 b* E* g( p: I. G
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
2 f& B: J, g; |problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 p9 `4 i; C; ^( P8 c( O! L" T5 C2 K( S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he  A+ c. }! t, I+ T& C/ y
said.4 S. }3 u7 j0 k" r/ A  s, ^
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. [5 }  ?# R& e5 y  A: t1 F5 K0 n# W
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; i, b7 U5 N9 e5 o/ ?. @5 e
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 ^- y" F6 x* v/ M
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( V7 M3 W1 [' t: P! ?9 S
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; J% J0 h7 I* ^0 x' C# ?! @members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 d% H/ F; b$ M7 wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' H/ b* X( H6 C* \/ n9 f& W- Y9 Rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 `6 ^! L& [0 s" `, {( ?9 Vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: y4 C4 W9 S9 U2 k3 R( B9 A
Chrysler.7 D8 ~1 V  @1 u! M6 g6 \% M, p: S9 L
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& Z, ~1 L- s1 \& @
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, @5 L+ H0 ]1 i5 \- n& s! M
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 n% L9 S8 V% K) O& W) rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete  Q2 k( I/ U/ r2 ?5 v# ]: \
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
  J% E) I3 Z% `( Itough."
, x3 J" l  E( a7 C! }% s  A) A---
+ ]& w$ |9 p9 L8 F9 g8 \Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. ^; V. I$ m5 `3 d8 lRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 O8 J2 D/ Z: D& \3 z6 ~# h
this story./ s' t$ }9 a5 e( N
2 h0 z, q0 ^0 g7 v# {0 r) h
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT
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发表于 2010-2-27 22:40 | 显示全部楼层
本来踏板就不是什问题的关键,recall也只不过是对大众的心理治疗罢了
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