Honda may benefit from Toyota recall

While Toyota suffers in the US, other auto makers enjoyed higher sales in January. Toyota's American sales in January dropped 16 percent, while Ford sales grew 24 percent, Nissan rose 16 percent, and GM enjoyed an increase of 14 percent.

However, Deutsche Bank analysts say the biggest beneficiary is Honda, another Japanese car maker. They say Honda now has many competitive models and the Civic and Accord had 74 and 68 day inventories at the end of 2009 which gives the company plenty of ammunition. Meanwhile, other Asian auto makers could benefit in specific markets. Insiders say the Mazda 3 could grab a bigger share in the small car market in the US, while SUBARU could perform well in the medium size market in the US.