Toyota still embroiled in mechanical defects backlash

A freshly released report has revealed that Toyota bosses debated in January when to go public over mechanical defects in its vehicles.

A senior Toyota executive in the United States warned in a January 16 email that the automaker needed to "come clean".

The email was sent days before the company issued a string of recalls covering more than eight million cars globally over reports of sudden acceleration and other problems.

Toyota declined to comment specifically on the email. But in a statement said it did a poor job of communicating during the period preceding their recent recalls.

The reports release comes as Toyota considers whether to appeal a proposed 16.4 million dollars safety fine by U.S. safety regulators.