Akio Toyoda

Less than two years after emerging from bankruptcy,General Motors Co.has regained the title of the world's largest automaker. GM's worldwide sales rose 7.6% to 9 million vehicles in 2011. The Detroit manufacturer last held the top spot in 2007 before it was surpassed byToyota Motor Corp.the next year. Chevrolet, GM's flagship brand, set a record by selling nearly 4.8 million vehicles. That was more than what many entire auto companies posted in sales last year, including Nissan and Honda.

Less than two years after emerging from bankruptcy,General Motors Co.has regained the title of the world's largest automaker. GM's worldwide sales rose 7.6% to 9 million vehicles in 2011. The Detroit manufacturer last held the top spot in 2007 before it was surpassed byToyota Motor Corp.the next year. Chevrolet, GM's flagship brand, set a record by selling nearly 4.8 million vehicles. That was more than what many entire auto companies posted in sales last year, including Nissan and Honda.

Can a revamped Camry help Toyota Motor Corp. get its groove back? After dominating the U.S. sedan market for more than a decade, Toyota's top-selling Camry has been losing ground to resurgent domestic automakers and upstart Korean manufacturers. Now, Toyota is fighting back with a lower-priced and fully redesigned 2012 Camry — unveiled with much fanfare Tuesday at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Toyota said it was dropping the base price of its core LE Camry model by $200 to $22,500.

Can a revamped Camry help Toyota Motor Corp. get its groove back? After dominating the U.S. sedan market for more than a decade, Toyota's top-selling Camry has been losing ground to resurgent domestic automakers and upstart Korean manufacturers. Now, Toyota is fighting back with a lower-priced and fully redesigned 2012 Camry — unveiled with much fanfare Tuesday at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Toyota said it was dropping the base price of its core LE Camry model by $200 to $22,500.

The president's bow, when it came at last, was a dip that lasted only a second. Coming two weeks after his company began recalling cars by the millions, the short, formal dip, head cast down, suggested regret for causing so much trouble for his customers. But Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder of the Japanese automaker now battling to save its global image from the stain of safety problems, did not deliver the deeper, longer bow that some expected. Bend too low, hold the pose too long, and Toyoda might have found himself in sticky legal trouble, his ritual of apology construed as a sign that the company accepted its culpability in the mess over all those defects.

Declaring that he and his company were "not perfect," the president of Toyota Motor Corp. apologized Wednesday for the safety concerns of customers and accidents -- specifically a horrific California crash last summer -- caused by sudden acceleration in the automaker's vehicles. "Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick," Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, told a congressional committee.

Hoping to coax Toyota Motor Corp.'s top executive to a hearing, a congressional leader issued a personal appeal Thursday to Akio Toyoda, the automaker's president. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) said he had sent a personal invitation to Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder, hoping to persuade the executive to testify about Toyota's recalls at an upcoming hearing of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. At a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo, Toyoda said he did not plan to address those issues on Capitol Hill personally -- at least not yet. He said he would not travel to Washington for the hearings, to be held Wednesday.

The top official at Toyota Motor Corp. said he will not appear before congressional hearings probing a series of massive recalls of the automaker's cars. Speaking to the media in Tokyo on Wednesday, Akio Toyoda, said he had full confidence in Toyota's North American chief, Yoshimi Inaba, who he indicated will appear before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Washington on Feb. 24. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled hearings the next day. Toyoda said Inaba has his "highest personal trust" and is "qualified to respond to the questions and concerns of congressmen.

The head of Toyota Motor Corp. skirted a transpacific row Thursday by agreeing to testify before a congressional committee probing a series of massive recalls by the Japanese automaker. After first indicating he would not testify -- a move that raised the ire of congressional leaders -- Akio Toyoda, president of the company and grandson of its founder, said he now planned to appear at next week's hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "I look forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people," Toyoda said in a statement.

Calling the huge recall of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles a "moment of crisis" for the world's largest automaker, the company's head formally apologized Friday and said he personally would lead a special committee to improve quality control. "I am deeply sorry about the inconvenience and concern caused to our customers and others," a grim Akio Toyoda, the company's president and chief executive, said at a hastily called news conference at the company's headquarters in Nagoya, Japan.

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said Monday that the Japanese automaker needed to add more excitement to the styling of its vehicles. Speaking to reporters at the North American International Auto Show ? his first visit to an American auto show ? Toyoda said, "I think cars need to be better looking. We are going to come up with better-looking, nicer cars. " One way Toyota plans to improve the design of its vehicles is by giving more authority to its design studios in the locations where the vehicles will be sold and produced, he said.

Toyota Motor Corp. has stopped all sales of its 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid after government tests showed it could leak fuel in a rear-end collision. The Japanese automaker said it was also recalling roughly 13,000 HS sedans that have already been sold and 4,000 that are still on dealership lots. A remedy for the problem has not yet been determined, Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a recall filing Friday, said that the defect "could result in a fire."

Signaling renewed vigor in the federal government's scrutiny of Toyota Motor Corp., Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is heading to Japan to meet with company President Akio Toyoda. LaHood said the department was examining 500,000 internal documents recently turned over by the automaker in hopes of determining when it began to withhold crucial information about defects in its vehicles. The government has already fined Toyota a record $16.4 million for failing to disclose safety problems related to sudden acceleration.

Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday contested allegations that it withheld evidence in lawsuits, telling Congress that it has maintained "the highest professional and ethical standards in its legal and regulatory practices." In a letter to Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Toyota countered claims by a former company lawyer who said it had refused to provide key information to plaintiffs' attorneys over a period of years. Last month, the committee subpoenaed some 6,000 documents from the former Toyota attorney, Dimitrios Biller, as part of its investigation into the automaker's handling of safety recalls and sudden acceleration problems.

Apologizing several times and bowing twice, Toyota President Akio Toyoda arrived in the world's largest automotive market to assuage fears about the safety of his company's vehicles. "The global recall has caused a lot of worries and confusion among Chinese consumers. We want to apologize sincerely," Toyoda said in a Monday news conference before bowing in front of hundreds of Chinese journalists. Flanked by seated Toyota executives, Toyoda stood and read a prepared statement explaining that he rushed to Beijing as quickly as possible after testifying at a congressional hearing in the U.S. last week.

Reporting from Beijing — Apologizing several times and bowing twice, Toyota President Akio Toyoda spoke directly to the world's largest automotive market in a press conference here Monday to assuage fears about the safety of his company's vehicles. "The global recall has caused a lot of worries and confusion among Chinese consumers. We want to apologize sincerely," Toyoda said before bowing in front of hundreds of Chinese journalists. Flanked by seated Toyota executives, Toyoda stood stoically and read a prepared statement explaining that he rushed to Beijing as quickly as possible after his visit to the United States, where he spoke at a congressional hearing.

Toyota Motor Corp. has stopped all sales of its 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid after government tests showed it could leak fuel in a rear-end collision. The Japanese automaker said it was also recalling roughly 13,000 HS sedans that have already been sold and 4,000 that are still on dealership lots. A remedy for the problem has not yet been determined, Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a recall filing Friday, said that the defect "could result in a fire."

Toyota Motor Corp. tapped Akio Toyoda, grandson of the Japanese automaker's founder, as president Tuesday, paying homage to its roots at a time when the company faces its first operating loss in 70 years. The U.S.-educated Toyoda, 52, is the first founding family member to take the helm at Japan's top automaker in 14 years.

Declaring that he and his company were "not perfect," the president of Toyota Motor Corp. apologized Wednesday for the safety concerns of customers and accidents -- specifically a horrific California crash last summer -- caused by sudden acceleration in the automaker's vehicles. "Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick," Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, told a congressional committee.

Apologizing for Toyota's missteps in dealing with defects blamed in dozens of fatalities, a contrite Akio Toyoda told members of Congress that his company's rapid growth had "confused" the priority it places on safety. "Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick," the president of Toyota Motor Corp. said during more than three hours of testimony. "I regret that this has resulted in the safety issues described in the recalls we face today, and I am deeply sorry for any accidents that Toyota drivers have experienced."