Ford Roars Past Toyota: Poll

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ford(F) fans -- and that seems to be most of TheStreet readers these days -- are more than 84% certain that Ford has passed Toyota(TM) in regards to trustworthiness and quality.

That, at least, is according to a weeklong poll conducted this past by TheStreet.

Indeed, as Toyota scrambles to contain all the harm caused by its sudden acceleration troubles -- and subsequent recall -- one reader, commenting on TheStreet, predicts that "Ford will outsell Toyota easily in 2010." Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal says that Toyota is currently assembling a D.C. crisis team consisting of lobbyists, lawyers and public relations experts to defuse a mounting political and regulatory firestorm.

This crisis team even consists of former Clinton aides (who presumably know a thing or two about attempting to contain a public relations nightmare) and those who helped Tyco International(TYC) cope with its own corporate crisis, according to the paper.

Indeed, the problems for Toyota have been grave enough to lure the company's media-shy president Akio Toyoda into a last-minute press conference Friday. There, Toyoda apologized for the company's massive vehicle recalls, and tried to mollify Toyota customers with assurances of better quality control.

But while Toyota is marshaling its resources into remedying its sudden-acceleration troubles -- and its public image -- only time will tell whether the carmaker will be able to set things right again for its customers. But one thing's for sure: it's a windfall for Toyota's competitors, such as Ford.