Toyota to spend $1 billion to lift U.S. sales

Toyota (TM) was the fastest growing big car company in the U.S. for years. It routinely took market share from domestic car companies like GM and Chrysler, and held off other Asian rivals to remain the number one import in America.

Toyota now has about 16 percent of the American market for cars and light trucks, having fallen behind market leader GM which claims about 19 percent. But, as sales turned sharply down in 2009, Toyota's sales fell just as much as most domestic manufacturers, and upstarts like Hyundai began to do well.