Toyota's reputation for being safe and reliable has gone up in flames. Now that the Feds have forced a halt on sales of half the lineup, I don't see how people can walk into a Toyota dealership seriously looking to buy a car.

So where are those millions of customers going to turn? Brian Johnson is an automotive analyst at Barclays Capital in Chicago. Johnson feels that of Toyota's 18.2 percent market share, GM will gain 2.4 percent, Honda 2.1 percent, and Ford 1.6 percent.

The numbers for Ford seem overwhelmingly conservative given their affordable and attractive lineup. Also they managed to secure North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards at Detroit. Honda doesn't sell anything attractive or exciting anymore (yes I'm looking at you CR-Z). Those going out to buy a Honda are probably just doing it for the name, considering a better equipped Ford or GM can be had for less.

GM has already begun to take advantage of the situation. Due to the thousands of calls GM is getting daily from Toyota customers, they are offering a special incentive for those willing to trade in for a GM, up to an additional $1000.

Detroit may see some much needed economic growth thanks to Toyota's failure in combination with GM and Fords recent successes. With no real strategy reported by Toyota to fix this problem, we must assume that the sales and production halt will continue for some time.

[Source: BusinessWeek]