Most Japanese remain unfazed by what they see as an offshore crisis of Toyota Motor Corp, even as a spate of massive recalls worldwide tears away the carmaker’s carefully built reputation for reliability and quality.

‘‘It’s Toyota, they’ll be fine,’’ a 29-year-old worker in the housing business said in Nagoya, near where Toyota’s head office is located.
That apathy coupled with local faith in the Japanese auto giant could soon turn to concern and even anger as dozens of complaints have surfaced over its best-selling new Prius hybrid, in what could possibly be a spillover of its safety troubles into the home market.
Experts say Toyota needs to get a grip on crisis management to fend off what is rapidly turning into a public relations disaster as criticism rains down from within and outside of Japan over what many see as the company’s slow and clumsy response to the recalls.
In the latest blow to its already tarnished reputation, troubles were reported in Japan and North America over the brakes of the Prius gas-electric hybrid, which was released in May and became the best-selling car in Japan last year.
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