Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada expressed hope that the government will offer back-up to Toyota Motor Corp as safety problems involving vehicles produced by the world’s top auto maker continued to mount.
Okada did not elaborate on what the government could do for the Japanese company, but he said Toyota must handle the current situation very carefully and appropriately so as not to damage public trust in other Japanese products overseas.
“Of course, diplomatically, it’s not an issue of a single company,” Okada said yesterday.
“This is a problem for the whole of the Japanese auto industry and it is also about trust in Japanese products.”
Toyota is mired in a number of recalls following safety complaints around the world since last year.
Trust in the Toyota brand had been well established in the US, Okada said, referring to the epicentre of the difficulties.
“We want Toyota to make efforts to maintain it.”