Found this on the USA PriusChat.com website. You might find it interesting.

[url="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35319096/ns/business-autos//"]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35319096/ns/business-autos//[/url]

I heard on Radio 4 today a reporter state that America has an agenda to bring Toyota down. From all the US comments etc this does seem to be the case, I think UK media have joined in the Toyota "bashing".
On the ITV news this evening owners of a Toyota Prius were interviewed. The couple had just had the computer reprogrammed for the brake recall, They were more than happy with the service and their car; they also stated they would purchase another Toyota. The cameras switched to a notice on the wall of the dealership which stated how Toyota are pledged to give good service etc. The ITV reporter then stated that Toyota will have to go along way to support this pledge!!! A totally unneecessary and inaccurate remark considering what the owners of the Prius had just stated.

An interesting article that makes Toyota sound like it's going the same way as Mercedes did in the mid-90's, albeit for different reasons. The problem is that it's written by the same media that overblows and spins everything, so we don't know how much cherry-picking the reporter has done to make his point.

Ultimately, I suspect this will affect Toyota's reputation and it'll take some time for them to regain it and the media will keep beating them over the head with it. It'll be interesting to see how Toyota deals with it!