As Toyota's recalls spread to at least 7.6 million cars across five continents, President Akio Toyoda's only public comments on the matter have consisted of an impromptu, 75-second interview with NHK in Davos, Switzerland.

More than a week after the world's biggest carmaker said it would recall vehicles in the United States to fix defective gas pedals linked to unintended acceleration, Toyoda, 53, still hasn't addressed other media. The grandson of Toyota's founder has left the task to U.S. sales chief Jim Lentz and to Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki, who is in charge of quality control.

"Toyota is a global company, but their way of handling this problem hasn't been up to global standards," said Yasuhiro Matsumoto, a Shinsei Securities analyst in Tokyo. "For the top executive to be invisible when there is a fatal problem for the company gives the impression that he is trying to keep a low profile and hide."