Toyota denied it had dragged its feet on revealing the problem, saying the initial reports of trouble were only received late last year when icy conditions in Japan and North America contributed to the problem. The flaw could hardly have come at a worse time for the Japanese giant. Toyota is under fire in the United States for its handling of massive recalls affecting about eight million vehicles worldwide — more than its entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 million vehicles -- due to accelerator trouble. Despite the huge recalls, the Japanese giant said it was on course to earn 80 billion yen (880 million dollars) this fiscal year after posting a net profit of 153.2 billion yen in October-December.