陷入困境的丰田(Toyota)首席执行官丰田章男(Akio Toyoda)承认，该公司在快速崛起至巅峰的过程中迷失了方向和轻重缓急意识，最终导致大规模的汽车召回事件，并丧失了消费者的信任。
Akio Toyoda, the embattled Toyota chief executive, has admitted that the company lost its way and sense of priorities in its rapid rise to the top, culminating in a massive vehicle recall and a loss of consumer trust.
丰田章男在昨日公布的书面证词中表示：“我担心我们增长的步伐可能太快了些。”该证词将于今日递交众议院监督委员会。
“I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick,” Mr Toyoda said in written testimony released yesterday and due to be delivered today before the House oversight committee.
丰田章男承认，尽管安全问题曾经是丰田关注的头等大事，其次是质量和规模，但在业务扩张过程中，这些轻重缓急变得“混乱起来”。
While safety used to be the company’s top priority, followed by quality and volume, the chief executive acknowledges that those priorities became “confused” in the expansion of its business.
丰田章男在证词中表示：“我们追求的增长超出了我们能够发展人才和组织的速度，我们应该认真重视这些问题。”
“We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organisation, and we should sincerely be mindful of that,” Mr Toyoda’s testimony says.
预计议员们将质问丰田章男，丰田何时首先得知与该公司汽车突然加速相关的安全问题，以及其是否向美国监管机构淡化该问题的严重性。丰田 章男还将面对丰田与监管机构关系的质询。
Lawmakers are expected to grill Mr Toyoda on when Toyota first learned of safety problems related to sudden acceleration in its vehicles and whether it sought to downplay their seriousness with US regulators. He will also face questioning on Toyota’s relationship with regulators.
昨日在众议院能源和商务委员会(Energy and Commerce Committee)举行的听证会上，议员们担忧的矛头还指向了美国国家公路交通安全管理局(NHTSA)的安全监管者。能源和商务委员会也在调查丰田汽 车召回事件。
In a hearing yesterday before the House energy and commerce committee, which is also investigating the recall, members’ concern was also directed at US safety regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
能源和商务委员会主席、民主党议员亨利•韦克斯曼(Henry Waxman)表示：“汽车制造商已经进入了电子时代，但国家公路交通安全管理局似乎仍停留在机械心态。”
“Carmakers have entered the electronics era, but the NHTSA seems stuck in a mechanical mindset,” said Henry Waxman, the Democratic chairman.
一位议员质疑国家公路交通安全管理局是否与这些汽车制造商们过于接近。
One representative questioned whether the agency had become too close to the carmakers.
鉴于汽车日趋复杂，议员们还提出了建立新立法以加强安全法规的可能性。
Lawmakers also raised the prospect of new legislation to tighten safety rules in light of the growing complexity of vehicles.
丰田美国营销机构负责人吉姆•兰兹(Jim Lentz)表示，在未来调查其汽车投诉时，丰田将会有“不同思路”，并将更加迅速地与客户和监管机构沟通。
Jim Lentz, head of the carmaker’s US marketing arm, said Toyota would “think differently” in future when investigating complaints about its vehicles and would communicate more quickly with customers and regulators,
兰兹表示，丰田在美国的1500家经销商迄今已修复了近100万辆召回的汽车。
Mr Lentz disclosed that Toyota’s 1,500 US dealers have so far repaired close to 1m recalled vehicles.