The recall by car company Toyota has knocked around 10 per cent off the value of the brand and could affect the entire car and car finance industry as well as the reputation of Japanese car makers. Brand Finance, considered experts in this field, downgraded Toyota due to the recent events.

The Prius hybrid and the Lexus have been recalled. The poor handling of the crisis has seen Toyota downgraded by the leading brands ranking service. The chief executive of Brand Finance, David Haigh, was reported as saying: The inept way Akio Toyoda and his management team have handled the recent crisis has massively damaged the brand. Machiavelli once said the 'Good news should come out slowly but bad news should come out at once.' Toyota has dribbled out the bad news over a month.

The wider problem was commented on by Yoichi Hojo of Honda, who commented: I think we should see this Toyota problem from a broader viewpoint. If customers start to harbour doubts, that would be problem for the whole industry. Some 180,000 Toyota cars have already been recalled in the UK.