Toyota Facing Sales Challenges in US

Expert says the auto giant will emerge from its current recall problems with a strong product, advises aggressive consumer campaign

24 February 2010

Unsold Toyota's at Colorado dealership

The question on the minds of auto industry experts is how much damage will be done to Toyota because of its recent spate of recalls.

A number of problems such as suspected sticky gas pedals and possible power steering flaws in certain Toyota models have left the automaker facing action by consumers, the U.S. National Highway Safety Administration and the U.S Congress - an avalanche of bad publicity.

Sales of Toyota cars in the U.S. fell 16 percent in January 2010 compared to January 2009, while sales of most other brands increased during the same month.

Besides the recalls, the "stop-sale" on a number of Toyota's models in January will undoubtedly depress sales figures even more.

Jesse Toprak, the Vice President for Industry Trends with the auto industry analysis group TrueCar.com, says the longterm impact of the problems will depend on how aggressively Toyota deals with the issues now. “The best way to handle this is to listen to consumers, answer their problems directly.” he said.

Toprak also says Toyota should not give in to every consumer demand. “What happens when you have massive recalls is that it actually has a snowball effect,” he said.