I'm not sure I get the 'intermittently' thing? They always seem to have been much the same, maybe with more emphasis on reliability and customer satisfaction rather than flashiness than some of their competitors. They also seem to stick to making good cars rather than doing mergers and acquisitions unlike say GM or VW.

Even still having Toyota around is great because they are absolutely killing it (Americans want hybrids because you can't plug in a car so easily if you live in the big city, live in an apartment, etc).