Toyota Motor Corp president Akio Toyoda sought to ease quality concerns during a low-key visit to China on Monday, fresh from a gruelling hearing in the US Congress over his company's biggest safety crisis.Toyoda flew directly from the United States to China to meet with government officials and local reporters, according to media reports, underscoring the importance of an auto market that surpassed the United States last year to become the world's largest."He's making this trip because China has become the biggest auto market, in which Toyota underperformed last year, from low-end products to high-end ones, such as Lexus," said IHS Global Insight analyst John Zeng. "If Toyota loses China, its global position would be challenged."Toyota has lagged rivals including General Motors, Volkswagen and Ford Motor Co in taking advantage of a boom in China's auto market that has been driven in part by government subsidies.Overall vehicle sales in China jumped 53% last year to 13.6 million units. Toyota, which produces cars in China in tie-ups with FAW Group and Guangzhou Automobile, saw its sales rise only 21 percent to 7,09,000 units, about 5% of the car market.Analysts say that was largely because Toyota and other Japanese automakers such as Honda Motor Co have relatively few small, affordable models that are both eligible for the tax breaks that have driven sales over the past year and within the reach of most Chinese families.Toyoda was planning to meet with officials from China's quality control bureau, according to the reports, and was set to attend a briefing for local and international media in Beijing at 6pm (1000 GMT).The company founded by his grandfather has recalled more than 8.5 million cars globally for unintended acceleration and braking problems in a widening safety crisis that broke in January.The bulk of the recalls are in the United States, where Toyota's February sales are expected to take a major hit.Its sales in Japan have not been seriously affected by the recall of its latest model Prius and other hybrid models, with data on Monday showing February sales rose nearly 50 percent from depressed year-ago figures.Toyota's China woes have been relatively limited so far, with the company recalling 75,552 RAV4 vehicles there due to faulty accelerators.The response from the public has been correspondingly muted."I think there are two areas where Toyota has to improve — safety measures, not just external appearance, and its brake system," said Mu Axin, 22, an office clerk in Beijing."If they manage to improve these two, I'll definitely make it as my first choice. But if they fail to do so, it will not be among the brands I will consider."Still, others were not taking any chances."I won't buy Toyota. I'll buy a Volkswagen -- it has better quality," said Zhang Cheng, an office worker who was heading into a Volkswagen dealership in Shanghai that was next to a Toyota dealership.A Toyota spokesman in Tokyo said Toyoda was in China to discuss quality issues, but would not elaborate. He confirmed that senior managing director Akira Sasaki, the head of quality, and managing officer Masahiro Kato were travelling with Toyoda.The low-key visit to China, with little advance notice and limited public appearances, contrasted with Toyoda's high-profile showing last week before the US Congress.Toyoda was grilled by US lawmakers for the recalls that have tarnished the carmaker's brand and reputation for quality, particularly in the United States, its largest market.Toyoda also met with US safety officials as well as workers and dealers while in Washington.Toyota said in November it was aiming to sell 8,00,000 cars in China this year, up about 13% or roughly in line with gains of about 10% that most analysts are expecting for China this year. The company's January car sales in China surged 53% to 72,000 units.While the recall could impact Toyota sales in China in the near term, it did not necessarily constitute a major problem for the company, said Zhang Xin, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing."I know that some people have doubts about Toyota cars in China now, but I don't think that will last very long," said Zhang. "If Toyota can prove itself and continue to come up with good cars with a reasonable price tag, people will continue to by Toyota cars. After all, Toyota is still one of the best known foreign car brands in China and in China, price remains the most decisive element."

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