Toyota officials say latest recall shows company acted quickly, learning from US mistake

TOKYO – Toyota says the overnight recall of 7.43 million vehicles over faulty power window switches that can cause fires is a sign the Japanese company has learned from its mistakes.

Executives said Thursday the models affected by the biggest single recall in Toyota Motor Corp.’s history were all made before 2010 — the year when global quality controls got beefed up.

They said Toyota had gotten quicker and more transparent after the massive recalls in 2010, mostly in the U.S.

One problem was that Toyota had said Wednesday the problem hadn’t caused any injuries. But documents filed by U.S. safety regulators showed customers reported 161 fires and nine injuries. There have been no crashes or deaths.

Toyota said Thursday it was an embarrassing but honest error.