General Motors has blamed a supplier partly owned by Toyota for a faulty car part that led to the recall of 1.3m Chevrolet and Pontiac cars in North America. Bob Lutz, GM’s vice-chairman, yesterday told the BBC in Geneva that the supplier – separately identified as JTEKT, a joint venture between Toyoda Machine Works and Koyo Seiko – had not met “all requirements for reliability and durability”. His criticism came as Toyota, its reputation battered after recalls affecting more than 8m cars and trucks, sought to re-assure US lawmakers at the third congressional hearing in the past 10 days into the safety and reliability of its vehicles.