Toyota’s first female executive arrested

Toyota moved into damage-control mode after its new communications chief, Julie Hamp, an American and its first senior female executive, was arrested on suspicion of illegally bringing pain killers into Japan, just two months after her appointment.

Toyota president Akio Toyoda apologised for the incident and reiterated the company’s belief that Hamp had not intended to break the law.

“To me, executives and staff who are my direct reports are like my children,” he said.