Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota and grandson of the company founder,apologized for the automakers' lapses during testimony before Congress .(Photo: Toyota)

What Toyota needs to do now in this stage of the game is to pull out all stops and engage in an advertising and marketing push like no other. It needs a recognizable leader to step up and explain in no uncertain terms what went wrong and why it would never happen again.

It took Audi two decades to overcome its unintended acceleration quagmire, and it took many stellar products to finally break through. More recently, Ford was able to get past the tire-blowout rollover stigma involving Explorers and Firestones by taking it to the people and, again, producing new and improved products.

And just look at Hyundai. In less than 20 years, it went from a backwater company with laughably poor products to a real star in U.S. sales. Part of its success is the longstanding 10-year/100,000-mile warranty, and this year’s strong showing could be partially attributed to Hyundai’s job-loss buyback guarantee. Of course, its vastly improved cars and SUVs are key.

These are the types of campaigns that Toyota needs to trot out to bring consumers back into the fold. That, and bringing back the sterling quality that people expect from Toyota. And crowing about it.

Toyota is really in quite a fix. Whatever financial costs it may incur from this crisis, the tougher challenge will be rebuilding the reputation that earned it the trust of a generation, and that will work to attract the upcoming generation as well.

Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEEDtv.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, who has driven and evaluated essentially every new vehicle sold in the United States. A lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle, he annually attends and writes about Arizona's famous January collector-car auctions, focusing on Scottsdale’s monumental Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event. SPEEDtv.com fans email veteran Automotive Editor Bob Golfen at r>