At 10.7% of vehicles operating subject to recall, Toyota is second only to Ford as a mass-market automaker in that particular stat. Still, the way Forbes has stacked the numbers, counting Chrysler as a separate entity rather than as a unit of DCX is a little suspect (although it's worth noting that their recall percentage is a rather impressive 2.5). So why do people buy Toyotas? A notion of perceived quality built up over years.
It's also because the Japanese automaker generally issues recalls before anything goes catastrophically wrong, leaving consumers with a warm, fuzzy feeling that they're being cared for, as opposed to the Ford model, which is seemingly, "There's never anything wrong with our products! It's your fault that they caught fire!" Which, over the last three decades, they've managed to do in a number of highly-publicized ways. Might FoMoCo work this lesson into the Great Leap Forward? [Thanks to Mehul for the tip.]
Teflon Toyota [Forbes]
Related:
Say it Ain't So, Leo: Toyota Prii Recalled for Possible Steering Problem [Internal]