(J.D. Power and Associates: Westlake Village, CA) -- For those who thought things in the automotive world couldn’t get any wilder, a look at recent headlines about Toyota and other auto manufacturers’ woes suggests that turmoil and change may be the industry’s only constants, going forward.

Sales at the beginning of 2010 are sending mixed signals about an impending recovery. Although sales reached the 10.8 million mark in January, they hit a speed bump in February. J.D. Power and Associates believes these numbers would have been even better, likely pushing past a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate, or SAAR, of 11 million had it not been for the payback from the strong close of 2009 and the ongoing safety crisis enveloping the world’s largest automaker.

The situation at Toyota seems unlikely to settle down anytime soon. It’s by no means the first time a major maker has found itself at the center of a swirling controversy, and, as before, it could prove the critical test not only of the maker’s resources and resourcefulness, but also the loyalty of its buyers.

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