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Toyota Motor North America has asked Patton Boggs partner Rodney E. Slater to advise the company on North American quality and safety issues. He will lead the independent North American Quality Advisory Panel, Toyota announced Tuesday. The announcement came while Yoshimi Inaba, President of Toyota North America, was testifying before a US Senate committee.
Slater is a former U.S. Secretary of Transportation during the Clinton administration.  At the Department of Transportation, he oversaw the recall of Firestone tires and the investigation into rollover accidents involving Ford Explorers using those tires.
The panel is slated to work closely with Toyota’s North American leadership team and it will have direct access to President Akio Toyoda. The group will evaluate the electronic throttle control system installed in Toyota and Lexus vehicles that has led to thousands of recalls.
Slater will also be closely involved in the selection and approval of the panel’s members.
