Can Toyota Be Toppled?

Our friend Rick who runs the Autoguy blog wrote a pretty interesting piece titled Toyota: Paper Tiger. This got us thinking about Toyota and why its rise to power seems to be coming on so quickly (as of late). Detroit often blames the press and, now, bloggers for not giving their products a fair chance. I personally blame Detroit for putting out pretty shoddy cars for the better part of 20 years and I think consumers do, too. But let's assume that Detroit really has turned its act around we still have the question: Can Toyota be toppled? Rick writes:

Toyota is a company with many weaknesses. It is only their fantastic performance in America that masks many of these weaknesses. Were it not for the American market, Toyota, like most Japanese car companies, would be near bankruptcy.

Why? Toyota is the GM of Japan. They own Daihatsu, a maker of small cheap cars that are not sold in America but have a small presence in Europe and Japan. Hino, a large truck maker is a presence. And finally they now own Subaru. They also own a significant percentage of the Japanese domestic market, a percentage similar in size to GM's in the 1950s and 1960s. However it is a percentage of the market that is stagnating, along with the entire car buying market of Japan.

Rick goes on to say, "The Big 3 could destroy Toyota in a generation." He also claims cars are an impulse buy (which is also another interesting theory). So, I have two questions: Can Detroit topple Toyota? And, are cars an impulse buy? Make sure to post some replies to Rick's site since he did all the work... I just asked the questions!