丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)总裁丰田章男(Akio Toyoda)周五称，他愿意于下周全面坦诚地向美国国会就近期的汽车召回事件作出解释。
丰田章男是在日本中部城市名古屋向记者作情况说明时作出上述表示的。
而此前在周三的东京新闻发布会上，丰田章男在谈及其出访美国的计划时含糊其词。
但周五早些时候，丰田章男发表声明称，他接受了美国众议院监督与政府改革委员会(House Oversight and Government Reform Committee)主席、纽约州民主党众议员Edolphus Towns的邀请，将在2月24日该委员会举行的听证会上发表陈词。
丰田章男称，他期待与美国国会和美国民众直接对话。
Complaints of Brake Problems Hit Prius in Japan
丰田后院失火 日本曝普锐斯刹车问题
Toyota Motor Corp.'s burgeoning crisis hit the shores of Japan Wednesday as Japan's transport ministry asked the embattled car maker to investigate 14 complaints it had received related to the newest Prius hybrid model, the best-selling car in the country last year.
丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)日渐加剧的危机周三波及日本，日本交通省要求这家陷入重围的汽车厂商调查14起与其最新款普锐斯(Prius)混合动力车相关的投诉。普锐斯是日本去年最畅销的车型。
While the number of complaints is tiny compared with those rocking the auto maker in the U.S., and no fatalities appear to be associated with the issue, the new reports -- and the heavy coverage of them in a Japanese press that has given fairly light coverage to Toyota's recent woes -- suggest a new front in the auto maker's public relations battle to salvage its reputation.
虽然与丰田在美国遭遇的投诉比起来，日本的投诉数量可谓微不足道，而且似乎也没有与此相关的致死事故，但相关报道，加上对丰田此前在美国处境不怎么关注的日本媒体也开始大肆报道此事，都显示出这家汽车厂商需要开辟公关新战线以拯救自身声誉。
Until now, Japan - where Toyota's global domination has been a matter of national pride - has been relatively cocooned from the avalanche of Toyota recalls around the world. Underlining the car maker's dominance in the country, nearly half of all new passenger vehicles sold in Japan in January were Toyotas, according to data released on Monday by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. And Toyota's growth year-to-year in Japan outpaced the market in the same month that sales dropped in the U.S.
丰田在全球的优势地位一直令日本全国上下引以为傲，直到现在，丰田在全球实施召回行动所引发的震荡相对来说还没有影响到日本。日本汽车经销商协会(Japan Automobile Dealers Association)周一发布的数据显示，1月份日本出售的新乘用车中，近一半为丰田车，这彰显出丰田在日本的统治地位。就在丰田在美销售下滑的同一个月，其在日本的销售同比增幅超过了市场总体增长率。
All together, Toyota said it was investigating dozens of complaints, received late last year, of a possible defect in the brakes of its enormously popular Prius hybrid model in North America and Japan. Customers complained that the brakes were slow to respond on bumpy or icy roads.
丰田称，它正在调查数十起去年年底接到的投诉，这些投诉可能意味着丰田在北美和日本极受欢迎的普锐斯混合动力车的刹车存在缺陷。客户抱怨说，刹车在崎岖或冰雪道路上反应很慢。
In Japan, the transport ministry confirmed there was an accident last July in Chiba prefecture, just outside of Tokyo, in which a Prius with allegedly faulty brakes rear-ended a car stopped at a red light, which in turn rear-ended two other cars. Two people were injured. 'We asked Toyota to investigate the cause of this accident in August,' said a Japanese transport ministry official. A Toyota spokesman last night said: 'Based on the information we have received from dealers, there have been no accidents or injuries reported.'
日本交通省证实，去年7月东京附近的千叶县发生了一起交通事故，一辆据称刹车有问题的普锐斯从后面撞上一辆等红灯的汽车，后者又与另外两辆车追尾。事故中有两人受伤。日本交通省官员说，我们于去年8 月要求丰田调查这起事故的起因。丰田发言人周三晚间说，根据公司从经销商那里获得的信息，没有收到任何事故或伤害报告。
The transport ministry official was quick to point out that its recall division receives over 5,000 vehicle complaints a year, and that it routinely asks auto makers to investigate a possible defect if there is an accident involved. The transport ministry received 13 complaints from Prius users over about two months from the beginning of December until the end of January.
交通省官员迅即指出，其召回部门每年会接到逾5,000起车辆投诉，如果投诉涉及交通事故，该部门会例行要求汽车厂商调查车辆是否存在缺陷。去年12月初至今年1月底期间，交通省共接到13起普锐斯车主的投诉。
'We have been confirming the facts,' said a Toyota spokeswoman last night.
丰田发言人周三晚间说，我们一直在确认相关事实。
The Prius reports, and aggressive criticism of Toyota out of Washington Wednesday, helped send Toyota's shares down 5.7% in heavy trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The damage spread to some of Toyota's key suppliers, as investors appeared to worry about longer-term damage to the sales of the auto maker and its tight corporate network.
媒体有关普锐斯事件的报道以及美国政府周三对丰田的猛烈抨击导致丰田股票在东京证交所放量下跌5.7%。丰田的一些主要供应商也受到波及，因投资者似乎担心丰田及其重要供应商的销售中、长期内会受到损害。
Despite reporting strong earnings Wednesday for the nine months ended December and a outlook hike for the fiscal year through March, Denso Corp., the world's biggest listed auto parts supplier lost 3.2%. Aisin Seiki Co., which lifted its net profit outlook for this fiscal year to three billion yen ($33.2 million) from a loss of 18 billion yen, tumbled 5.3%.
世界最大的上市汽车零部件制造商Denso Corp.周三宣布，公司在截至12月的九个月内收益强劲，它还上调了截至3月的这一财年的前景预期，但其股票价格仍下跌3.2%。Aisin Seiki Co.将当前财年净利润前景从亏损180亿日圆上调为盈利30亿日圆（合3,320万美元），但其股价却下挫了5.3%。
Mariko Sanchanta / Juro Osawa
