• USA Today, Monday, December 21, 2009 10:47 AM

Toyota, which built a stellar reputation in the U.S. based on fuel-efficiency and reliability while Detroit was headed in the other direction, has stumbled though a series of embarrassments, Chris Woodyard writes. Experts weigh in on what it has to do to recover its most valuable asset: consumer trust.

"If people are now questioning whether Toyota is going to be safe and reliable, that could really hurt their sales," says Jake Fisher, a senior automotive engineer for Consumer Reports. Eric Dezenhall, who runs a crisis PR firm in Washington, D.C., is among the experts who point out that bad news often hits hardest against companies that have enjoyed good press. It's also no longer the underdog, now that it outsells every competitor except General Motors. "It is the companies that often had honeymoons with the public that have the most trouble," says Dezenhall.

But University of Michigan professor Jeffrey Liker, who wrote The Toyota Way, feels the company "will emerge stronger than ever." And, as IHS Global Insight consultant Rebecca Lindland points out, Toyota has built up a lot of goodwill over the years. "In that goodwill," she says, "there is a lot of forgiveness."

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