AP Top News at 4:59 p.m. EST

AP Top News at 4:59 p.m. EST

Toyoda faces lawmakers: ‘I’m deeply sorry’

WASHINGTON — Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda apologized personally and repeatedly Wednesday to the United States and millions of American Toyota owners for safety lapses that have led to deaths and widespread recalls. Unimpressed lawmakers blistered the world’s largest automaker with accusations of greed and insensitivity. “I’m deeply sorry for any accident that Toyota drivers have experienced,” the grandson of the founder of the Japanese auto giant told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He suggested his company’s “priorities became confused” in a quest for growth over the past decade at the expense of safety concerns.

Senate approves tax breaks for new hires