Toyota explains little about long recall delay

Nine days after it was revealed that three Toyota Motor Corp. officials are being investigated for professional negligence over an eight-year delay in issuing a vehicle recall, Toyota executives made their first appearance before the media.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2006/nn20060721a3a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='133'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Masatami Takimoto –

, a senior vice president at Toyota Motor Corp., and other Toyota executives bow Thursday at a news conference in Tokyo in apology over the firm's delay of eight years in revealing a defect in the Hilux Surf. KYODO PHOTO

Toyota was largely silent about whether officials in charge of quality control knew for eight years about the steering defect in the Hilux Surf sport utility vehicle before issuing a recall, saying the investigation is still ongoing.