Seiji Maehara, Japan's transport minister, yesterday welcomed the decision by Akio Toyoda, Toyota's embattled chief executive, to testify before a US congressional panel investigating the company, but said he should have been quicker to accept the committee's overtures.
“This is a safety issue on which people's lives depend, and it's a manufacturer's duty to respond firmly,” he said. “It's a shame they flip-flopped, and there was talk that he wouldn't appear.”
Mr Toyoda on Thursday accepted a formal request to appear before the panel, which is investigating the recall of more than 8.5m vehicles by Toyota, after previously turning down an informal request to testify.