Toyota

Think about it. When you press the accelerator, the pad gets stuck. Its definitely scary for a regular driver. I always thought accelerating is a straight forward operation but Toyota story now tells us its not. Rather, its so complicated and has become a threat to Toyota's long enjoyed reputation for quality. Halting the production in the US plants only made the consumers more nervous, though it was the right thing to do.

Though Toyota CEO acknowledged that the company was chasing the numbers and compromised on quality, I feel there was also a 'pull' factor from US consumers. Every other person in the US wanted a Toyota and dealers did not mind stocking Toyotas in large numbers. The only way for Toyota to deliver such large numbers were outsourcing parts from across the world and probably that's where the things started going wrong.

Though Honda stands to gain from this mess, I feel it helps Ford better to emerge as a profitable business in 2010. Also, their product lines are more stylish and better quality. Especially when it comes to trucks and SUVs , Ford has some good products American consumers love to take look at.