Transport committee  The quality centre will be regional.

Transport committee  No. It will be regional. TTC in Michigan will probably be the main centre.

Transport committee  Those factors were very much taken into consideration. What we couldn't find is the impact on the environmental factors that affected some of the plastic components inside the gas pedal. That's why we could not detect it. So when we did the bench test that didn't show. With all the reliability tests it didn't show.

Transport committee  Yes, CTS met our requirements, so we gave them a specification and they had the responsibility to design this whole unit as an entity. It met all the specifications. Where it failed is because of the environmental factors the gas pedal was subjected to. For us, it satisfied our need.

Transport committee  Basically, like in manufacturing, for example, we analyze all the warranty data, and those defects over here were so small in sample they really didn't show up in our radar chart. It was not so visible. As soon as they found out in the field that there were actually some actual design failures, that's where everything got activated with the design in Japan, and that's where the case was sent to Japan for investigation.

Transport committee  Because at the time the number of cases was still very, very low.

Transport committee  Obviously when you have a problem with any component, first of all you try to find out what the problem is. Then the second point is--

Transport committee  Let me finish. If you have a counter-measure, you have to make sure the counter-measure is effective. To have a problem and create another problem is not going to be a solution. We have to ensure that the testing is proper and we are confident that the counter-measures will be effective.

Transport committee  We do purchase those pedals. We have two manufacturers, CTS and Denso, and I use both. For the Corolla and the Matrix and the RAV4 we use CTS, and the quality we receive from CTS is very, very high. From a manufacturing point of view, there are no issues. In terms of the design, it was recognized that there could have been some issues, especially with the environmental conditions that affect the gas pedal.

Transport committee  The issue is that CTS has a responsibility for the design, so they would have dealt directly with Japan regarding design issues. As soon as we found out.... I think we found out around the end of the year and then we made the conversion as quickly as possible.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to speak before this committee. As President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc., I am responsible for our manufacturing operations in Ontario. This includes plants in Cambridge and in Woodstock, Ontario. Since 1988, our Cambridge facility has grown from 50,000 to more than 270,000 vehicles, including the Corolla, the Matrix, and the Lexus RX350.