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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 THOMAS8 m' N) L8 n5 W8 E. u( N' Y, {
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: B# V8 X) U; G  H# j8 f9 j, _% Z
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 ~! u1 g( J5 G7 B& v0 I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 A$ O3 v" n; ~2 X" L) S
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 N+ O' i- K. u! p
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
  n- O1 W3 ]# U( Y3 U+ @0 y, Xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' X8 A: D8 f# T- J# T( _/ t( K6 o
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& @* G: i  w/ ?6 Oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: ?, d% `' }7 t( L3 R9 F' ^
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 S  Y. c9 z* c( @# n$ t( q' Emats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 D- \4 G2 a3 B$ @9 {; Y2 C1 f. YHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 c  j9 Z8 _8 ?' P! w3 ]$ m) I! Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. ?' {1 g, r0 y% Xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 E9 ?- h" M8 h; |1 Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! Y) b2 h8 r5 i& N- Qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
7 G5 {- i: C+ g! {% f7 o$ g% T"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 U1 z4 o+ K1 X& _7 a
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* _+ P  C4 o1 s! `9 v, Y0 J- N"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 T. M+ d/ G  _: }, C/ E
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 y! s$ \/ z' w: E' \5 I7 ]
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* q9 R8 i2 s" l$ H& F7 r  m( x6 b
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, a1 l) {7 W- i; Z/ `( `done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- H. H! V9 q& ]# L) t9 C$ N! Cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! S8 p. b8 _, C
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- C+ ]0 \' `  i" ?
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 r$ N3 p$ Z; i; i% q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 i: x% h1 \% }" d% u& A3 K0 }  cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" [; E6 e" w0 g6 r' F2 c( [! y$ D& T
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 l% P$ g& Y! O* R2 |- hsaid.1 T( B( v* ]& Q' q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, c* C& A& k( T! i. @  g$ ~
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) i  F+ b+ |  z2 F9 P, C
about driving our products," Lentz said.
5 ~- d+ O; U  ], ^9 hThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 S, P, w, |/ N8 U$ {1 {) Hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 t" F5 h3 T+ Z/ Zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' U( o. q3 W, Vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" y; d3 Y# F/ |1 W0 d% M% `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 K* [- T6 U5 G" z* s9 E2 f# e9 o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 ?" }( r7 d+ C0 L7 m" x9 Mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 Q9 T" k4 s/ Y- ~their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow3 s* p( |  `: r7 s  n# V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ G7 F% ]+ u1 d2 ?- A  M3 |
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% u7 @3 M: t* ~0 Rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.$ U+ X) k5 l$ \: s
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 H5 s; H) S4 B  K) M3 q3 X2 J8 ^% wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 q  \+ v1 a: L4 ]; kunderstood the pain.3 }8 X. \* Z. b4 o
"I know what those families go through," he said.6 ]+ E2 e! c* g* J9 z) M4 V
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( {& {# Q) ~$ r9 t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 V; i1 j4 u  H% W- m1 U5 N6 DBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" K3 B% O2 R$ X( UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ z6 U& ~$ J$ Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! Z1 t0 H/ d4 Q% x$ y" }2 ~Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# _2 G& M7 \8 q( F3 ]/ n, BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" E" ]7 P, w/ Y' s8 l0 |"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; Q4 S) s% U- t' |: M9 _Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 _" R* i6 L: }/ }9 a) v" ]
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" ~/ L3 p; M3 H; b$ W. a
vehicles already on the road.
0 X  M; Q* F! p% \4 y* I& LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, Q2 N. `1 z0 K% R  r' l, Vbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
6 p. y: O# L2 R( z* J' l5 g, u8 \: nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( l6 o1 d* T* c# e* ?# l% R
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were" k& M1 K7 j$ F: u
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 \" c; ~! J7 J: C+ N2 F( B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& O0 L1 M8 y- @3 o8 Ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 a' w# ~3 X7 `/ I# l' L5 u& T/ zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ e( T% ?& o# T1 @- |- K: O
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 B+ F: o/ s0 D' |% n% b& Ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( O0 q% o4 L# `: U( b
restore the trust of our customers."" D* M* W4 [) m& {
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 F  C& X, {0 |3 v# k) PSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* @* I( j8 L, q+ p
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; X) I) V" R- Z0 ]* F4 L7 gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. V9 Y5 E( a% M" _  m& N: l. a
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 e4 L' M1 E2 W) S% Jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. n1 x2 X# i4 k, w% K& Fturn off the engine.1 X, t+ S$ T* Q" v+ E; W& T; I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 C5 \# v2 G* y+ k  K. iOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 q2 L- m% c: r, _  N8 N4 {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. D! \7 c2 S% s4 {- G+ X/ x/ Nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 R" @; I5 W$ j$ n* N8 pto her complaints.; Q! i, K) A; \, {) M
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# x* d6 `; ~% q% q. G* Mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" f( I- A. `! H1 P5 d7 G0 x0 y  Omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, ^2 p* \. B% \/ ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, d; x  x( o8 E3 ~+ N. _* }' O
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 Q6 y; b/ i; Q% L/ I# _  J/ g
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) l0 c% g3 U0 B# Zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" @' w  V+ }  Q+ A" l7 `Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& D  M' @, u, Jprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 P9 p8 X& D* N& @5 S3 J* [7 Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 M0 l' ?8 _2 I, C# kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer5 c! h' z3 r6 R+ Y
every question."/ r2 X, Q# c# b, n6 x
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 n! W0 G; J* W( celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, j: n# C' G# z+ Lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: t# r3 L) m- z" V3 \committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& p* \" D0 A" G" I7 m6 n$ }number of vehicles
  Q) I, K2 w; w5 M# GTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ }* m6 f' o6 [8 gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# B7 Y$ z2 {2 S" V; R
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ P+ q1 \' f. F9 tsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
( R& L. g* t; s8 L; ~Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 O$ C; u" Y# ^+ ]5 X0 C
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; h) O- a( D3 \* k* E( Ptrace at all.# _& g2 z9 r5 S9 J8 a% ?) P, M) I, S/ |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 {# [1 R: Z$ Z" I3 ]database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ {& m2 n4 y$ q0 s7 u
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ O9 B& }) C$ W6 A6 j, ~6 F& o- ]recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- j1 A2 G5 x1 N- a% m% ZRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ T2 x2 \4 B1 A7 w: Asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and  z; i# S& j9 B; |2 x
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' M; w; y- D  `4 c3 nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 j$ t" N6 A4 y& U: @1 Icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 r3 t8 P( r" D% z0 j7 f. Csuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: }" I  l9 t" u- m# x5 W+ R. P$ b3 U0 ]
by Toyota's lawyers.": `$ Y# k! @7 X( `7 ?0 X9 Q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 h: \4 ^) U; ?) m' j# H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 k1 r7 w* t3 v, F  C- Ccustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 L2 D8 L3 _; c% |" U: X
said.1 ~0 ^1 m3 w3 r* {: [* \
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 \2 K$ u" i, A, h
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! r9 P( L; n! N2 [
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
6 O% s) T; L  s. _3 T! B: bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 f! P4 ?1 L! }- i' lSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 N6 R% U4 r6 Q% Xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread% j9 K, _% I5 ]0 G9 q$ n
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; Q$ N1 ?2 Q  k5 x
automaker, at least in part because of the government's: l0 f' p% X# ]6 T! E% d
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and  M7 {1 J, q+ m4 p: ~
Chrysler., Y* ^, S+ h% }9 _# j, u
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: c7 r. v% p! |/ y' C  Z; X
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# p3 }( r1 s& T. ^: X7 _
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
5 @! ?6 O! @3 @served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- k9 a- \# F3 Y& E7 e7 l
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( e( W. ]! M2 C; @9 O
tough."- U! i. A/ z% H6 V, d) ~2 ]$ ~
---8 f* X& {, K9 b0 Y& Y' X
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; \: i) g7 A2 uRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! k" i0 O9 e1 J" m3 b
this story.
# o. z/ D5 \( ~. ~: m5 |+ [9 B/ q9 I/ z/ {  b) d. n( m
-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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