Akio Toyoda, the scion of the Toyota empire, apologized Wednesday before a U.S. House committee investigating deadly flaws that sparked the recall of 8.5 million cars.

Toyota Motor Corp. chief executive Akio Toyoda says the company grew too fast to keep up with safety controls. (Katsumi Kasahara/Associated Press)

Toyoda, the automaker's 53-year-old chief executive, says the company grew too fast to keep up with safety controls.

"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," Toyoda said in an opening statement Wednesday afternoon.

"In the past few months our customers have started to be unsure about the safety of Toyota vehicles, and I take full responsibility for that," he said.

Democrat Edolphus Towns, chair of the oversight and government reform committee, welcomed Toyoda and thanked him for volunteering to testify.

"We're very impressed with that," Towns said. "It shows your commitment to safety as well."

This was warmer than the reception given to others who've addressed the committee. Ultimately, however, Toyoda's blanket apology and vow to improve won't be enough for the feisty panel of legislators on the committee in a year in which every one faces re-election.

Nor will any culture gap. Japanese CEOs typically serve symbolic roles akin to figureheads without much power to control operations.

Toyoda at first declined to appear before the panel but acquiesced last week when he was officially invited.

'Heavy load on his shoulders'

In harmony-loving Japan, company chiefs are usually picked to cheerlead the rank and file. As the grandson of the company's founder, Toyoda was groomed to play that role — and even dubbed "the prince" of the auto empire for a time.

Japan's national Asahi newspaper said in an editorial that Toyoda's testimony "not only determines Toyota's fate, but may affect all Japanese companies and consumer confidence in their products. President Toyoda has a heavy load on his shoulders."

Toyoda, who speaks halting English, appeared with a translator by his side, as well as Yoshimi Inaba, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America Inc., who is fluent in English.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and David Strickland, the new head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, testified earlier in the day and they, too, were subjected to at-times hostile questioning.

When Massachusetts Democrat Stephen Lynch questioned whether the safety agency was completely forthcoming in handling concerns about Toyota floor mats in the United States, LaHood reacted angrily.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood listens to a reporter's question Tuesday in Washington. (Associated Press)

"Mr. Lynch, I don't agree with that," LaHood said. "We recalled the floor mats because we had research suggesting that they were a problem. We wouldn't be saying these things if they weren't true."

Inaba was also raked over the coals. Florida Republican John Mica lambasted the executive for his part in recently uncovered documents in which the company appears to boast of having saved $100 million by negotiating with government officials on recalls.

Waving a July 6, 2009, internal memo entitled "Wins for Toyota" and bearing Inaba's name, Mica called the document "the most embarrassing document I've ever seen."

"First of all, let me set the facts straight," Inaba responded. "At that time, I was in the middle of an orientation tour. My name is on it because it was presented to me, not because I made it," he said.

"It is so inconsistent with the guiding principle of Toyota and my feelings," he said.

The mother of an off-duty California highway patrolman killed with three family members in a runaway Lexus on a San Diego highway in August was scheduled to appear after Toyoda.