To add to Toyota's woes, the cumulative Toyota recalls have got far more publicity than those of other automakers. In late October 2010, Toyota issued a voluntary recall on an additional 1.5 million cars globally to replace a brake master cylinder seal. This recall was followed a few days later by an even larger 2 million car recall by Nissan for ignition problems. Consider how these recalls were reported on msnbc.com. The Toyota article was 966 words and the Nissan article was 229. The Toyota article was entitled "Dark Clouds Gather Over Toyota After New Safety Setback." It contained many negative references to previous recalls such as "lurching from recall to recall" and "another black eye." The Nissan article, entitled, "Nissan Recalls 2 Million Cars Worldwide," provided a simple factual description of their recall. It even concluded with the observation that many automakers are experiencing large recalls because of the growing use of common components across multiple models, as if to suggest there was nothing unusual about Nissan's recall. The contrast in the respective treatments is striking. The relentless linking of each Toyota recall to previous ones could only have further increased the public's doubts about Toyota's quality.

There is no doubt that the media, especially with its focus on electronic problems as a possible cause of unintended acceleration, fueled public concerns about Toyota's quality problems and helped confirm in the minds of many, that Toyota has serious quality problems, With quality, consumer perception is all that matters and it means that Toyota has a huge challenge going forward.

Did Washington Punish Toyota to Help U.S. Automakers?

Finally, what about the charge that overzealous regulators lie behind Toyota's problems? This is the tack taken by some who charge that NHTSA succumbed to domestic political pressures to be tough on Toyota. Others, like many in the Japanese media, lean towards conspiracy theory with the claim that the purpose of the recalls was to help "Government Motors," at the expense of Toyota. Even the venerable Asahi News, in a recent editorial, hints at this explanation. These critiques gained further currency with the publication of the January 2011 findings of NASA that they found no evidence that Toyota's electronic throttle control systems were at fault for unintended acceleration. Moreover, NHTSA confirmed only two deadly crashes, the Saylor crash and one more, as a result of pedal entrapment and none for the sticky gas pedal problem. This being the case, the critics argue, there was no justification for the recalls.

Hindsight, indeed, provides incredible clarity of thought. In the period from October 2009 through February 2010, there was utter confusion. Jeremy Awl, Chief Executive of Edmonds.com wrote in the Washington Post on March 16, 2010: "While we have heard much recently about smart pedals, floor mats and sticky throttles, it has not been made clear what is behind the incidents of sudden acceleration." James Lenz III, President of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., testified in congressional hearings in late February, that its engineers had not found its electronic systems to be a factor in unintended acceleration and Toyota's were safe to drive. At the same time, he stated that Toyota's recall might "not totally" solve the problem of sudden unintended acceleration in some of its vehicles. This hardly inspired confidence. Toyota first claimed that pedal entrapment was the cause of unintended acceleration, then, more than three months later, added sticky gas pedals which "in rare instances mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position." Its evolving position further led the public to doubt their judgment. Clearly, they were still in a problem solving phase and couldn't entirely clarify matters. During the period from October 2009 through March 2010, many Toyota owners were at a loss of what to do or think.