Video: Toyota President apologizes, explains recall plan

It has been a trying time for Toyota owners, with cascading safety recalls creating concern and uncertainty surrounding the issue of unintended acceleration. Toyota initially announced a floor mat recall, then soon expanded its efforts to reshape and later replace pedals. The latest action focuses on sticking accelerator pedals whose friction mechanism has in some cases limited how the pedal springs back to its neutral position. The next key phase is adding smart-throttle braking technology to some current models, and making it a part of standard production features going forward.

Toyota Motor Sales president and Chief Operating Officer Jim Lentz, said in a released statement,  "We deeply regret the concern that our recalls have caused for our customers and we are doing everything we can – as fast as we can – to make things right.  Stopping production is never an easy decision, but we are 100% confident it was the right decision.  We know what's causing the sticking accelerator pedals, and we know what we have to do to fix it.  We also know it is most important to fix this problem in the cars on the road."