Between the severity of Toyota’s safety problems and the company’s slow response in addressing them, there’s no doubt the Japanese automaker has bungled its approach to the company's biggest recall ever.

Still, experts say, Toyota isn’t exactly getting any help from its friends in the United States. Some of them may be feeling a bit of glee over the Japanese company's woes, which come after a disastrous year for the industry that saw both General Motors and Chrysler file for bankruptcy protection.

As the recall widened last month, Ford and GM began offering $1,000 bonuses to customers who wanted to trade in their Toyotas, openly using the crisis to win back market share they have been losing for decades to their overseas rival.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood chimed in this week, saying Toyota officials were "a little safety deaf" and then warning Americans not to drive the recalled cars. He later backtracked but said the Obama administration would "hold Toyota's feet to the fire."

“The American auto industry has always had the quality bogeyman on its back, and this is a way to kind of level the playing field,” said George E. Hoffer, an economics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who has studied auto recalls extensively.

And for Toyota, the woes just seem to keep coming. On Thursday, Toyota admitted design problems with the antilock braking system for the popular hybrid Prius. For months, drivers in the U.S. and Japan had been complaining about braking problems in the third-generation Prius.

It's a stunning turn of events for an auto company that built its name on quality. (Source: MSNBC)

Story Date: February 5, 2010