Prosecutors have dropped charges against three Toyota executives who were under investigation on suspicion of avoiding recalls and contributing to an accident, the Nikkei reported Saturday.

Prosecutors in western Kumamoto prefecture formally dropped the charges Friday after deciding they lacked sufficient evidence to move ahead with professional negligence charges in the 2004 head-on crash, The Nikkei said.

"If we can't say that the accident was directly connected with not carrying out the recall, then there is no negligence that merits imposing criminal penalties against these three officials," the paper quoted assistant chief prosecutor Seiji Sakizaka as saying.

Toyota has denied wrongdoing in the case.

Prosecutors' office officials could not immediately be reached Saturday afternoon. Phones rang unanswered at Toyota.

Five people were injured in 2004 when the steering failed in a Toyota Hilux Surf sport utility vehicle, causing it to swing out of control into the wrong lane, police said.

At the center of the investigation was whether Toyota had avoided making a needed recall for eight years. Company officials were accused of being aware of the steering problem as far back as 1995 or 1996, with reports of problems initially surfacing in 1992.

Toyota did not carry out a recall on the model until October 2004. The recall was for a problem part used in the steering that could break, according to Toyota.

Prosecutors took over a police investigation last year that accused the three officials overseeing quality control at the automaker. Their names have not been disclosed, and Toyota has said at least one of them has left the company.

Toyota has a strong reputation for impeccable quality, but that image has been dented a bit lately due to series of recalls, which have raised some doubts whether it can maintain quality standards as its global sales expand rapidly.

Toyota executives have repeatedly expressed concerns about sliding quality and have promised to strengthen quality controls.

I agree, but there is no need to bring GM into this.