In the first of many congressional hearings into Toyota's extensive recalls, a senior company executive told the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday that the repairs prescribed by the company might "not totally" solve the problem of unintended sudden acceleration in its vehicles.
Since last fall, Toyota has recalled more than 8 million cars worldwide, including 6 million in the United States, for complaints that the accelerator pedals can become stuck.
But in response to a question on Tuesday by the House energy committee chairman, Henry A. Waxman, Lentz said that Toyota was still examining the sudden acceleration problem, including the possibility that the electronics system might be at fault - something the company had previously denied was the case.
While Toyota has found no evidence of an electronics problem at this point, Lentz said, "we continue to look for potential causes."
"We need to be vigilant and continue to investigate all the complaints of the consumers," Lentz said. There is the possibility "of mechanical, human or some other type of error."
Lentz also told the committee that Toyota was installing a new brake system that can override a surging gas pedal on almost all its new vehicles and most of those already on the road.
Waxman, while criticizing Toyota's response to the recall, told Lentz: '`We need to be sure that you're doing a full and adequate analysis of something you've denied, but that other witnesses have shown us is very possible.
Another committee session on Wednesday will include questions for Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota. A Senate committee also will examine the recalls next week.
Lentz's disclosure came during a day that regularly turned emotional, as when Rhonda Smith, a Lexus owner whose car was involved in a sudden acceleration incident told her story. Lentz himself spoke in a choked voice when he discussed losing his brother in a car accident more than 20 years ago.
But Lentz, a marketing executive who has an MBA degree, repeatedly avoided answering questions about the company's technical issues.
During one long stretch of questioning by Rep. John D. Dingell Jr., D-Mich., Lentz responded, ''I don't know`` a number of times when asked for data about customer complaints.
He also emphasized frequently that the final authority for deciding actions on defects and other safety matters resided with Toyota officials in Japan.
His frequent references to Japan was a marked contrast to years of effort by Toyota to paint itself as a company that has given more decision-making power to its American employees. Toyota employees, many in colorful oxford cloth shirts with the company logo, sat behind Lentz in the packed committee room.
In the future, Lentz said an employee from North America would participate on a new committee that the company is forming to examine quality issues. ''We didn't have that before,`` Lentz said.
The transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, was also questioned by Dingell and other committee members who were critical of past decisions by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration not to vigorously pursue company recalls.
''There needs to be fundamental reform at NHTSA," Waxman said. "As I look at the record, it's not a happy one. It's not a successful one.``
LaHood, a former Republican representative from Illinois, sidestepped questions about whether his predecessors had been lax. He vowed his agency would ''get into the weeds`` and investigate complaints that the computerized electronic systems were involved.
LaHood said the department, which has 125 engineers to perform investigations, had found no evidence of electronics problems with Toyota cars and believed that floor mats and sticky pedals posed the greatest threat.
LaHood defended the work of government investigators, but he stopped short of saying that the recent recalls would solve the entire acceleration problem in Toyota cars.
''We stand ready to ensure prompt action on any additional defects that we have reason to believe are present,`` LaHood said.
Witnesses who spoke before Lentz described how an electronic problem could have caused cars to surge unexpectedly.
Smith, who paused to wipe away tears, told of the harrowing moments of Oct. 12, 2006, when her Lexus sedan sped out of control at 100 mph.
Smith told the energy committee that she furiously pushed buttons, shifted gears and slammed on the brakes as she tried to stop the vehicle. Six miles later, she finally brought it to a halt.
Smith told the committee that she felt that Toyota's response to her complaint was ''a farce.`` She said a company technician told her he was not able to replicate the episode and suggested that it was caused by pressing on the brakes while the tires were spinning.
''Of course we were insulted, and furious over being called liars,`` Smith said.
Later, Lentz said he was ''embarrassed about what happened" to the Smiths. "We're going to go down and get that car and see what happened,`` he said.
His voice choking when he spoke of his brother's accident, Lentz said, ''There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of what these families go through,`` he said. He did not give the details of the accident.
Asked why Toyota had moved away from a business model that prized quality and openness, Lentz offered a simple explanation: ''We lost sight of our customers.
"We outgrew our engineering resource," he said. "We're suffering from that today."
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a home to Nissan and a plant under construction by Volkswagen, said the goal of the committee hearing was to "make sure that mistakes of the past are not repeated and to be responsible when so much is on the line."
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