Toyota chief hopes to lead company past crisis

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Jul 9, 9:15 AM EDT

Toyota chief hopes to lead company past crisis

By DAN STRUMPF AP Auto Writer

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) -- The president of Toyota Motor Corp. said he has spent the last year apologizing for the automaker's missteps and now hopes to lead the company past its recall crisis and restore confidence in its vehicles.

Akio Toyoda, speaking to U.S. reporters on Friday, also reiterated the company's commitment to fuel-efficient vehicles and said the automaker is testing an electric car prototype with technology from Tesla Motors Inc.

Toyoda said he has spent much of his year-long tenure at the helm of the world's largest automaker apologizing for its mistakes. He said he now hopes to win back the confidence of customers and move past the crisis that has battered its vaunted reputation for quality.

"I haven't heard much good news since I became president," Toyoda said, speaking through an interpreter. "For the past year, I was leading the company in apology."

Toyoda said the company remains committed to its core mission of developing environmentally friendly technology and remains committed to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles as well as hybrids and electric cars.

He said the company is now testing an electric car prototype with a battery from Tesla, the Palo Alto, Calif., startup that went public earlier this month. Toyota struck a partnership with Tesla in May, in which it sold Tesla a factory in California and invested $50 million in the electric car maker.

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1. Good article

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