With the announcement that Toyota was suspending production and sales of eight models in the United States and Canada (including the Camry, the most popular car in the US) the image of Toyota quality being the pinnacle of the industry is starting to crumble.  Although it appears that a single defect is responsible for this move, how Toyota responds to it in the coming days/weeks/months will impact the company’s image for years to come.  Below are a few recent links, but much of this story has yet to be written and this will be interesting to watch as things play out.  Are we looking at this decade’s Tylenol scare/recovery?  Will it go as badly as it did for Ford/Firestone?  It remains to be seen…

Toyota Halts Sales Over Safety Issue. Jay Miller. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Jan 27, 2010. pg. B.2

In a stunning and unprecedented move, Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday halted sales of most of its popular models in the U.S. in response to growing concerns that possible defects may cause the vehicles to accelerate unintentionally.

The Japanese car maker, which long has been viewed as the leader in automotive quality, said it told its dealers to stop selling eight models, including the Camry and Corolla sedans, two of the biggest sellers in the U.S. market. Other models affected by the move include the RAV4 and Highlander sport-utility vehicles and the Tundra pickup truck.

The eight models represented 57% of Toyota’s 2009 U.S. sales. Toyota also said it will stop producing the affected vehicles at several North American plants for one week starting Feb. 1.

Toyota: Make or Brake.  From the Economist Online.

Toyota’s dash to become the biggest carmaker may have had unfortunate consequences. The pursuit of volume seems to have dented the company’s enviable record for reliability. In 2006, after another bout of recalls, the company promised a “customer first” strategy to restore its slipping reputation. But recalls continued and Toyota started to slide in customer-reliability polls while Ford, VW and others such as Hyundai, which added to sales in America last year, caught up.

Toyota Sales Halt Raises Quality Questions

Toyota Motor Corp.’s unprecedented decision to halt sales on its most popular models in the U.S. underlines the biggest question dogging the world’s No. 1 car maker: whether it has sacrificed quality in its quest to capture global market share.

The Japanese car maker, which long has been viewed as the leader in automotive quality, told dealers in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday to stop selling eight models, including the popular Camry and Corolla sedans, in response to growing concerns that possible defects may cause the vehicles to accelerate unintentionally. The eight models represented 57% of Toyota’s 2009 U.S. sales.

Supplier Perplexed by Toyota Recall

When asked why Toyota would stop millions of its selling and producing some of its best-selling models if the problem identified only affected eight vehicles, Mr. Walorski said CTS officials were perplexed.

“We don’t know. You have to hit them up with that question. They’re they ones who did the recall,” he said.

He added that the story has attracted enormous media hype, which may have contributed to Toyota’s bold move Tuesday.

“Every day a new article comes out. There is a lot of hype out there,” he said. Of Toyota public relations strategy, he said “either they’re brilliant or they don’t know how to handle it.”