This accelerator problem is believed to have caused numerous car crashes involving Toyota vehicles which, in turn, led to a global recall and halt in production and sales for the automaker.

The NHTSA engineers have reviewed the company’s proposal to prevent the accelerators in its eight model cars from sticking. An official said they found no complaints about the proposal, which is to be publicly announced after its finalization.

Toyota, in the past two weeks, has been issuing recalls with regards to many of its car models all over the world as complaints about its gas pedals sticking and causing various car accidents have become a staple in news reports and the media spotlight.

It has recalled approximately 5.6 million cars in the US alone, nearly two million in Europe and 75,000 vehicles in China. This recall is the biggest ever among automakers in US history.

Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda issued a statement during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland stressing how apologetic the company is for the unease that these recalls have caused their customers. The plan to be released by Toyota in order to fix the problems on its models will cover the majority of the cars recalled in the US. It involves a shim, or a spacer, that will be added to the cars so that there won’t be any springing back, thereby avoiding unwanted acceleration.

The NHTSA is not technically required to approve of the said amendments, but they can veto the plan if they find it insufficient. Toyota has been working with NHTSA and has said that it is finalizing the details before announcing it, hopefully within the week.

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he was personally satisfied with the measures that Toyota was taking to fix their problem and to make sure that their customers’ safety will be top priority at all times.

Mulally told reporters the advantage Ford’s new vehicles will keep over Chrysler and General Motors, its fellow American counterparts, in the coming year 2010. Ford has made modest gains in its sales and market share while its Detroit counterparts were bailed out by government aid to avoid falling into bankruptcy.

For 2009, Ford started out with about $27 billion in debt mainly due to the worst recession to hit the American and global economy since the Great Depression. Mulally said his company has repaid $10 billion of its debt during the past year and has sold over $1.6 billion worth of its stocks. He adds that the automaker is poised to accelerate its debt payments as it aims to achieve profitability in 2011.

Ford mortgaged all of its assets in 2006 to be able to borrow $23.5 billion worth of funds. These loans have helped the company avoid filing for Chapter 11 and the government aid that its competitors, GM and Chrysler, needed to stay afloat.

“Everybody knows how fast we are getting back to profitability and free cash flow,” Mulally said. “Then we’ll just accelerate the improvements to the balance sheet.”

In November of 2009, Ford reported a profit of nearly one billion dollars during the third quarter of 2009 and forecasted that the company will continuously make gains in 2010 up to 2011. The borrowing and improved cash position have allowed Ford to revamp its product lineup and keep it fresh to tackle the rigors of this continuing recession, while also battling international automakers like Toyota for the industry market share. Mullaly made his statements at the town of Wayne in Detroit where the new factory for the new European version of the Focus compact car is located.