Tokyo: Major newspapers in Japan on Saturday criticised Toyota Motor's slow response to safety problems with its cars.
Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, emerged late on Friday to apologise and address criticism that the company mishandled a crisis over sticking gas pedals.
Toyota, staring at a two-billion-dollar bill from the recall of more than eight million vehicles around the world, was facing "a moment of crisis", admitted Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder.
However, he stopped short of ordering a recall for Toyota's iconic Prius hybrid for separate braking problems.
Newspapers warned that the fiasco could hurt the country's hard-won reputation for trustworthy technology.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that Toyota's response to the troubles as "utterly slow".
"It is vital to take swift action to complaints related to human lives," the influential daily said in an editorial. "The world is watching how Toyota will show its humility by using the series of troubles as lessons for production of safe cars."
"Failure to properly deal with the current fiasco could deal a blow to the international trust in Japan's manufacturing technology," the best-selling daily said in an editorial.
