World's Most Admired Companies

Top 50 rank: 7**
Rank in Motor vehicles: 3
(Previous rank: 2)
Overall score: 5.20
Surprised to find Toyota on our list? Not only did the troubled car maker make the top 50, but at No. 7 it's the highest-rated foreign company. What gives?

Our surveys were completed in the fall and winter -- most were received after Toyota's October recall of floor mats, but well before the gas-pedal crisis escalated to epic proportions in January. At the time of the polling, Toyota reaped the benefits of its legendary reputation for quality leadership and from its continued growth as U.S. car companies suffered; in 2008, the company surpassed General Motors as the world's largest automaker.

Even with that polling schedule, Toyota fell four spots from last year's list. The true test will be how it fares next year.

If history is any guide, it has a rough road ahead. When Merck recalled its arthritis drug Vioxx in 2004 after a clinical trial confirmed that it increased the risk of heart attacks, the pharmaceutical giant fell off our America's Most Admired Companies list the following year. It has yet to return. –C.T., Scott Cendrowski