Toyota's top U. S. Public Relations Executive had cautioned in January that it's high time for the automaker to publically reveal the mechanical problems and to come out clean about sticking accelerator pedals that could cause sudden acceleration.

The e-mail from Irv Miller emerged five days before Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million vehicles in the U. S. to fix gas pedals.

Earlier this week, the Obama Administration cited that Toyota remained silent over the problem from U. S. auto safety officials for at least four months and imposed a $16.4-million fine on Toyota, the largest ever for a vehicle defect, as it breached the U. S safety laws.

In an email, Irv Miller, Toyota's Group Vice President for Environmental and Public Affairs, quoted, "I hate to break this to you but we have a tendency for mechanical failure in accelerator pedals of a certain manufacturer on certain models".

However, federal regulators claimed that they had no meeting with Toyota executives in January over discussion related to a recall of Toyota vehicles for issues with sticky accelerators.