Toyota Poised To Become The Yugo Of 2010

By Julie Smith on March 6, 2010, 10:35 am

With all the Toyota (NYSE:TM) recall problems that have gone on for the past weeks, it’s possible Toyota could become the Yugo car of the past.

The Yugo Car

In 1978 the car called the Yugo was given birth. It was built as a subcompact by a company called Zastava Corporation, a Serbian company, as a joint venture with Fiat (NYSE:FIA), a company founded in 1899. In the ’70 and ‘80s, the Zastava Corporation sold its little car to South and North America countries. In 1980 Zastava launched the 850 model, which had a 848cc engine.

The Yugo continued many evolutionary phases of which the Yugo 45 made it to the United States in 1981. Several variants were offered that ranged from a 903cc engine to a 1301 cc engine. The models sold in the United States were named GV through the GV plus along with a convertible model called the Cabrio. The many problems with these model put it right up there with Ford’s (NYSE:F) Edsel.

Toyota Problems On A Higher Level

The Toyota Motor Company could be somewhat paralleled with the huge down turn in sales like the Yugo did in the 1980s. Toyota has experienced all these recalls, which could very likely be in the very high billions of dollars lost. Toyota, in the long-term future could experience major class-action lawsuits.

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