Toyota chief must bear the burden of firm's failings

You know Japan's world is upside down when the fabled Toyota Motor Corp is a global laughingstock.

A name once synonymous with quality has fallen so far that Americans are actually rushing out to buy Detroit's clunkers. You have to love a corporate scandal that boosts General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co and gins up consumer advocate Ralph Nader in one fell swoop.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda has done just that and it's time for him to resign. He must go not because of the company's biggest-ever and growing recall, but to take responsibility for how pathetically he is handling the crisis. Thanks to unsteady leadership, Toyota's market value has lost the equivalent of Latvia's annual gross domestic product since Jan 21.