Akio Toyoda, the president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation has appeared before the US Congress on Wednesday, apologising for the company's slow response to its vehicle defects - which have been allegedly linked to accidents causing dozens of deaths and numerous injuries in the past several years. <br /><br />The US National highways and traffic safety authorities (NHTSA) were also on trial for allegedly ignoring the early stages of the Toyota crisis. <br /><br />The NHTSA opened an investigation into the vehicle malfunctions on February 3 after more than 100 consumer complaints were filed. <br /><br />It led to Toyota having to issue recalls of more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide. <br /><br />Toyoda promised to correct its past mistakes of failing to promptly respond to customer complaints and intends to "put customers first" again. <br /><br />Al Jazeera's John Terrett reports from Washington DC. <br /><br />[February 25, 2010]
