On Thursday, Toyota announced that it would shell out $1.1 billion to settle charges stemming from the unintended acceleration of its vehicles, which led to a highly publicized series of recalls in 2009 and 2010. Owners of the vehicles will be eligible for new safety features, including a brake override system, and former owners who sold their Toyotas for a loss will be reimbursed with direct payments. The hefty settlement, considered the largest of its kind, is Toyota's boldest move yet to shed its image as the maker of runaway cars, which took a heavy toll on the company's bottom line, says Mike Ramsey at The Wall Street Journal:
The 2009/2010 recalls and public scrutiny of accidents involving its vehicles — including congressional hearings — dented Toyota's reputation for quality and undermined its sales. Its U.S. sales were flat in 2010, a year in which almost every other major auto maker posted gains, and ended its 30-year unbroken run of market-share increases in the U.S.
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