Toyota president apologizes for recalls

Speaking at a hastily assembled news conference, Toyota president Akio Toyoda apologized for the massive recalls his company has faced, calling it a "crisis" in his first public comments since global recalls were announced on Jan. 21. He said Toyota is setting up a special committee headed by Toyoda himself, the Associated Press reports, that will review internal checks, consumer complaints, and talk to outside experts about their quality problems. "I offer my apologies for the worries," he says. Meanwhile, the company has yet to announce a recall on 270,000 Prius cars sold last year in Japan and the US, which seems to have a programming glitch. Toyoda has been criticized for not speaking sooner about the company’s problems.

Associated Press