(Thumbnail image: The Los Angeles Times)

A huge recall has rocked one of the world's most well-known and trusted auto makers.  Toyota issued a recall of eight models Tuesday after consumers complained that their cars were accelerating at random.  That recall is the biggest in Toyota history, affecting millions of cars worldwide.  In addition, Toyota has ceased production on all the affected Toyota and Lexus vehicles until it is sure it has a fix in place.
 
We’re taking a look at national and global reactions to the recall from CNN, ABC, CBS and The New York Times.

We start with ABC News, which says fixing the faulty pedals is only the beginning of the monumental task Toyota is facing.
 
Anchor:  “How can Toyota recover from this?”
Analyst:  “First of all, they’ve got to come up with a remedy, and they’ve got to take very good care of their customers, and they’ve got to give their dealers some support.  In your earlier report, the dealers couldn’t respond to the customers and they need some answers to respond to the customers.  They have got to pamper these customers in order to keep them in the fold.”
Anchor:  “Yes, everyone who owns one needs some answers right now.”

Analysts at CNN agree.  Calling the task unprecedented.

Reporter:  “Webster says Toyota’s 2.3 million vehicle recall and the halting in production is unprecedented.
Webster:  “Nobody knows how long it’s going to take for Toyota to fix this and I don’t think Toyota knows how long it’s going to take for to fix it and that’s why they stopped production.”
 
No one seems quite sure just how dangerous the problem is.  But CBS News reports, the blame game has already begun.
 
Reporter:  “Toyota says an Indiana company, CTS, makes the accelarator package.  But CTS says Toyota told it fewer than a dozen cases of unintended acceleration have occurred.  None fatal."

The New York Times says the subcontractor isn't to blame.  It's Toyota itself -- expanding past its reach -- and now paying the price.  It cites a Japanese automotive analyst to support its argument.
 
Analysts in Japan have raised concerns for some time that Toyota’s rapid growth in recent years was overstretching the company. “We have had fears for quite a while now that Toyota lacked the human resources and production capacity for such rapid expansion. By chasing numbers, they were becoming seriously outstretched,” said Masahiro Fukuda, manager of research at Fourin, a global automotive research company based in Nagoya, Japan. “Many of us weren’t surprised over the big recalls; we were more surprised that it took Toyota so long.”

So what do you think?  Did Toyota react quickly enough?  Or did it try to slow-play the problem?  And now that it's ballooned, can the automotive giant recover?