Rockefeller, longtime Toyota friend, gets frustrated with answers

Automotive News
March 3, 2010 – 12:01 am ET

WASHINGTON — Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller — an influential Democrat whose ties with Toyota and Japan span more than five decades — wrapped up the hearing Tuesday on Toyota’s safety defects by expressing frustration with company executives’ refusal to answer many of the panel’s questions.

“We all feel some frustration in trying to get to the bottom of some of our questions,” Rockefeller, D-W.Va., speaking for other senators on the committee. “It’s a question of accountability. There is more direct knowledge at the table than has disclosed itself.”

Rockefeller, in faulting their responses, spoke directly to the three senior Toyota executives who testified Tuesday.

He cited their answers on when the company first became aware of its unintended acceleration problems, how it responded to consumer complaints and to safety warnings from its U.S. executives, and how it knows that its recalls have solved all the safety defects…

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