Toyota Motors is in a precarious situation over the safety recall of millions of cars. It has visibly upset the Japanese government which is apparently concerned with the perceived image of Japanese corporate. Toyota is the most visible corporate face of Japanese industry globally. In the post-recession period, Japanese exports registered a growth of 41 % during January as against last year as per the figures released today by the government.
The exports to Asian countries rose by 64% while exports to US were up by 24%. The Japanese government is concerned that the fall-out of the Toyota recall would have negative impact over Japanese exports to US. Moreover, the Toyota incident comes at a time just as Japanese exports are beginning to move south.
The troubled Toyota President,Akio Toyoda, released a written testimony before appearing for the Congressional Hearings before the house in which he said he was sorry for the accidents caused by the defective Toyota cars. He assured the customers about his commitment to deliver safe cars moments before appearing before the House committee of the US Congress. He is expected to face a tough Congressional hearing.
Japanese foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, opined the issue should not make Americans to undermine their trust in Toyota and Japan as a whole. Toyota stocks dipped in value after the recall of defective car parts rose exponentially. There was wide-spread fear that its spiraling effects could spill over to other sectors with consequent decrease in nominal GDP as well as loss of employment.
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