DETROIT/NAGOYA, February 2, 2010 –The never-before-seen recall of multiple millions of Toyota vehicles is going to cause serious repercussions in terms of sales for the planet's largest automaker. 2010 profit forecasts are dropping daily as 8 of the Japanese giant's models are being pulled from US showrooms due to sticking accelerator pedal issues. Toyota's Executive VP, Shinichi Sasaki said in a recent interview, "The sales forecast is something that we're extremely worried about." 3rd quarter earnings from the company will be reported this Thursday.

Including the Toyotas that have been recalled on a separate issue involving slipping floor mats that also caused accelerator pedals to stick, there will be more than 8.1 million cars recalled. In comparison, that's more than the total number of company group sales for all of last year. Although Sasaki could not give a specific number for the total costs of the recalls, Tatsuo Yoshida, an analyst from USB, stated that the costs will be approximately $900 million. Add in the current value of lost sales totaling more than $155 million every week and you have a total loss for Toyota that will be well over $1 billion.

Other independent analysts estimate the total losses for Toyota to weigh in somewhere between $1.1 and $2.2 billion. Kohei Takahashi, an analyst from JP Morgan stated, "It's a positive that we now can grasp what the direct costs might be, but Toyota has yet to address uncertainties about indirect costs, such as litigation costs and costs of incentives to win back customers."

This coming Monday (Feb. 8), Toyota will resume production on the 8 recalled models including the RAV4, Corolla and Camry. This will end the 1-week unprecedented shutdown of 6 separate Canadian and US plants. Additionally, the company will begin repairing the faulty accelerator issues on more than 4.2 million vehicles by installing a small metal spacing device. Coincidentally, before the current recalls, Toyota projected a 6% increase in overall sales for 2010. And of course, loads of litigation expenses must be considered as well. Claims against the company range from loss of resale value to death.

Consumers are well advised to remember that, for decades, Toyota has encountered very few issues that required any recalling of vehicles whatsoever. Considering their longstanding track record of excellence, Toyota remains as one of the highest rated auto manufacturers in terms of safety and dependability in the world. And of course, it does well to remember that competitors by the dozens are using this unfortunate event to attack Toyota at every chance.

US and foreign competitors including GM, Ford and Hyundai are all offering attractive discounts currently to pull in thousands of consumers that are experiencing apprehension towards Toyota in general now. Toyota will recover and most likely return to the table stronger than ever. Look for an immediate surge in public relations from Toyota as the company begins its long road to recovery.