A couple of years back, Toyota's chairman declared that he intended his company to become the world's largest automaker. "Be careful what you wish for," the saying goes, for Toyota soon passed GM to become the big number one. Now the Japanese giant is discovering that being biggest is not always best. Once famous for impeccable product quality Toyota has been hit with an unusual (for Toyota) number of recalls and currently is involved in a nightmare of a situation that could cause it to lose not only sales but priceless brand loyalty.

The problem began a few weeks ago when owners complained of sticking accelerators that caused their vehicles to speed up, regardless of attempts to slow them by braking. It appeared that improperly fitted floor mats were to blame. (Note: North America's notoriously inadequate driver training programs apparently never demonstrate that simply moving the transmission lever into neutral allows a car to coast to a stop. Or that it can then limp home in first or second gear, if necessary, to maintain a slower speed.) Floor mats were easy to replace but then a new culprit was found, a faulty part in the accelerator pedal mechanism. This can wear over time, causing the accelerator pedal to return to position slowly or even stick in the open position.

First came a recall, which was bad enough for Toyota, but then the company ordered dealers to stop selling eight models, whether new or used. There was no fix immediately available and so the plants that made those vehicles also had to be shut down. The supplier responsible for manufacturing the problem parts, CTS Corporation, has finished developing a replacement mechanism and some units have already been shipped to plants but with 2.3 million cars affected, and dealers and customers anxiously awaiting the new parts, a lengthy delivery period could cause anger and frustration.

To give Toyota credit, quickly shutting down plants and stopping sales assures dealers and owners that the company is giving customer safety the highest priority. Yet it's doubtful that Toyota will ever regain the exalted position it once held. After all, it took Audi many years to overcome its unintended acceleration debacle in the 80s, even though the claims were proven totally false. So Toyota got what it wanted but I suspect the company would gladly give up the "world's largest" crown if it could backtrack and spend more time and money on quality control and less on expansion of plants and overcrowded brand segments.