Autosnewspaper.com

Akio Toyoda has only been CEO of Toyota since June, but at . Japan National Press Club briefing today, he made numerous apologieson behalf ofthe world'. largest automaker, the New York Times reported. Public apologies are an accepted part of business practice in Japan, but Toyoda covered topics that resonate plenty in the …., too.

First off, he acknowledged the company'..$8.6 billion loss for the fiscal year ending in March 2008 and the likelihood of another substantial loss for the current fiscal year. The company was unprepared for the global economic meltdown, he said,and is now . stepaway from “capitulation to irrelevance or death.” He added that Toyoda is “grasping for salvation.” He reiterated again his plan to shift the focus away from maximum sales and give more priority to products that people want.

Then, he turned to the floor mat debacle in the United States spurred by several years of customer complaints and . recentfatal crash of . Lexus ES 350 dealer loaner car in California.

“Four precious lives have been lost… offer my deepest condolences,” Toyoda said..”Customers bought our cars because they thought they were the safest. But now we have given them cause for grave concern,” he said..”. can'. begin to express my remorse.”

He didn'. forget the impending closure of the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California –.. decision he called “agonizing.”/spy shots

“I know it's a big blow to the local economy,” he said.

Finally, he admitted that Toyota just hasn't been building inspiring cars over the last several years, not even in the Japanese homemarket. “They say that young people are moving away from cars,” said Toyoda. “But surely it is us — the automakers — who have abandoned our passion for cars.”

Thanks to Bob Holland for the tip.

The New York Times