Although analysts predict that car sales for the month of February will be up from the 2009 figures, the series of Toyota recalls and subsequent bad publicity from allegations of long-term safety issues will most probably have slowed the rate of recovery in the auto industry.

According to projections by J.D. Power Associates reported on by Reuters, sales of light vehicles for February should rise 8 percent to 741,500 units. That will bring the seasonally adjusted annualized rate to 9.9 million, an improvement from 9.1 million last year, but a drop from 10.8 million in January.

Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power, quoted in the Reuters report said, "While February sales have improved from a year ago, the pace of the recovery has hit a speed bump. This hiccup appears to be the result of consumers waiting out the Toyota recalls and winter storms impacting showroom traffic, but the effects of these external factors are likely temporary and the recovery is expected to get back on track."

In recent months Toyota recalled more than 8.5 million cars globally including its most popular models, the Camry, Corolla, and Prius. Production of eight models in the U.S. was suspended to address a sticking accelerator, and Toyota executives testified before a Congressional investigating committee.