Its a very simple situation.

A few years ago:
GM had lots of recalls - no one hears about them
Toyota had a few recalls - no one hears about them


Recently:

The US Government bought in with a massive commerical interest in GM to avoid it going bankrupt, and in order to get its money back it NEEDS for GM to knock Toyota off the top spot as biggest retailer of cars in the US


Curently:
GM has lots of recalls - no one hears about them
Toyota has a few recalls - EVERYONE hears about them


its ALL about trying to get GM to take a chunk of the US market out of Toyota, nothing more to it than that, the cars havent got less reliable, the recalls havent got more serious, its purely that the US government are making a point of ensuring that every little thing that happens with Toyota hits the news.