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Mattel (MAT) toys had lead paint in them. Car companies from Toyota (TM) to Nissan to Honda (HMC) have recalled cars for defects, some of them dangerous.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of Graco Harmony High Chairs. It is hard to see why the term “voluntary” was used. The screws in the front legs of 1.2 million of the products can become loose which can cause the chairs to fall. There have already been reports of 24 injuries because of the defect. Read More
Toyota (TM) dominated the 2010 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Survey. Granted, the poll looks back over a period of a year. Power describes the methodology as ”original vehicle owners were asked to report the type and number of problems they experienced during the preceding 12 months with their 3-year-old vehicle. This is measured as “problems per 100 vehicles”. A lower PP 100 score reflects higher quality.
A look at the “hardest working” major brands for 2009 shows that a number of them belong to companies which have done poorly and, in at least one case, may file Chapter 11. This is due to the definition of a hard-working brand, which is based on the ratio of its value to the market capitalization of its parent company.
Every car sold in America, and perhaps the rest of the world, is broken or dangerous to drive so it seems. Toyota (TM) has recalled more than eight million cars. Ford (F) says there are software issues with brakes on some of its new autos. Nissan recalled 540,000 vehicles because of brake pins. Now Honda (HMC), a company which has a reputation for quality second only to Toyota’s, has recalled 410,000 cars.
Reuters: China took a hard position on the value of the yuan despite US pressure.
The Toyota brand may be much more resilient than most experts would ever have imagined. That is bad new for its primary competitors in the US market–GM, Ford (F), Chrysler, Honda (HMC), and Nissan.
Car recalls have become an epidemic with the sickest patient being Toyota (TM), which has recalled 8.5 million cars this year. GM, one of the car companies with a chance to benefit from the woes of the Japanese automaker, may have lost that opportunity. It announced a recall of 1.3 million compact cars in North America because of steering trouble. The defect may be to blame for 14 accidents.
The United States may be Toyota’s largest market, but the largest car market in the world is China. After a grilling by Congress and meeting with the Transportation Secretary and employees meant to save as much of Toyota’s 18% market share in the US as possible. Akio Toyoda is off to the world’s most populous nation.
Toyota’s (TM) sales in the US market are supposed to fall and some of its large rivals like Ford (F) and Honda (HMC) are supposed to benefit from customers who will no longer consider buying vehicles from the world’s top car company. February will be the first barometer of whether that theory is right. It is the first full month since Toyota began its recalls. January sales for the Japanese car company dropped 16%.
Hyundai has recalled 
Consumer Reports released its study of the best vehicles sold in the US. Honda (HMC) finished in first place, Subaru in second, and Toyota (TM) in third. The firm said that it suspended ratings on Toyota cars that have been recalled, but also said the Japanese car company’s rating was the same as last year.
Markets in Asia were mixed.
Toyota (TM) may be in trouble now for its recalls, but over the last ten years, its record of complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been remarkably low.
Reuters: 
Markets in Asia were higher.
Japan has two large car companies known throughout the world for quality, workmanship, value, and fuel efficiency. Each took several decades to establish its brand in the US. Each burnished its brand by the launch of hybrids which brought in a new generation of eco-conscious car buyers.
Toyota (TM) has recalled over seven million cars worldwide which includes eight of it most popular vehicles. The company is also faced with investigations about trouble with brakes on its 2010 Prius hybrid. French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen is recalling 97,000 small vehicles that share Toyota’s pedal system.
Markets in Asia fell.
The news media is filled with stories about the eight million or more vehicles that Toyota (NYSE:TM) has recalled in the US, China, and Europe. These have gas pedals that can stick, which can cause unintended acceleration. Audi had a similar problem in the American market in the late 1980s. It took the Germany company 15 years to rebuild its business in the US.
