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After spending most of the past year at a mediocre three-star ranking, enough top-performing CAPS members have turned bullish on Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) recently to lift it to four-starstatus once again. A total of 3,209 members have given their opinion on the automaker, with many of them offering commentary explaining the recent optimism that has led to the upgrade.

While General Motors is still losing money, things have been looking brighter lately for others like Ford (NYSE: F) and Toyota, as the world's largest automaker posted a surprise fiscal second-quarter profit. It's seen an increase in sales and bumped up its full-year vehicle sales forecast by nearly 1 million vehicles. Like rivals Nissan and Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC), Toyota also forecast better than previously expected full-year financials. The company has been aggressively cutting costs, including exiting its Formula One sponsorship, following others like Honda. But it's still on board with NASCAR, where it will still gain important exposure among other major sponsors like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Goodyear (NYSE: GT), and Sears Holdings ' (Nasdaq: SHLD) Craftsman brand.

Toyota also continues to move forward on the hybrid front with plans for a bigger version of its popular Prius, which could help widen its lead over rivals. CAPS members like the strong sales in Japan recently, helped by the country's consumer tax breaksfor environmentally friendly cars. And China has become a booming market for Toyota and other Japanese auto makers, too -- the growing market even has Toyota looking to join many other companies in building its own research and development center there.

Do you think Toyota deserves its improved status? Add your thoughts in the comments box below on this page, or head over to CAPS to rate the companyand check out all the information and opinions the community offers, absolutely free.

This article was originally published as A Big Upgrade for Toyota Motoron Fool.com

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