TOYOTA INSISTS NO DESIGN DEFECT IN ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM

Testifying before Congress, Mr. Toyoda said he was “absolutely confident” there was no design flaw in Toyota’s electronic throttle-control system. But one of his executives, and Mr. LaHood, said they couldn’t be sure in congressional testimony Tuesday and Wednesday.

Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee expressed concerns Wednesday that unidentified faults with Toyota’s electronic throttle systems may be behind the sudden unintended acceleration complaints that were the basis of the hearing.

Jim Lentz, president of Toyota’s U.S. sales operations, told a different congressional hearing Tuesday that he couldn’t be totally certain that all the problems that have led to sudden acceleration have been identified and fixed.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the NHTSA will conduct a deeper review of automotive-electronics issues. “There are people that believe there are electronics problems with Toyotas, and that’s the reason we are going to do a review,” he said. “We don’t have evidence to say conclusively that there are electronic problems.”