Toyota Motor Corp. will decentralize its Japan-centric recall power, giving its global regions more responsibility in an effort to boost customer safety following recent quality problems which have tarnished the car maker's reputation.

President Akio Toyoda is expected to tell Congress that the company will devise a system in which each region will be able to make decisions as necessary, according to prepared testimony released ahead of a Congressional hearing today.

A company unit in Japan known as the Customer Quality Engineering Division has been responsible for confirming whether there were technical problems and made decisions about the necessity of a recall, according to Toyoda's testimony.

The company will also devise a system to hear customers' voices in a more timely manner, he said.

Among other changes, a new quality advisory group made up from experts around the world will ensure that we do not make a misguided decision, Toyoda will say.

In addition, the company will invest heavily to build a new Automotive Center of Quality Excellence, he said, without naming a location.

The position of Product Safety Executive would also be created, although he did not give details about where the executive would be based.

Japan Toyota Recall