LAKEWOOD, N.J. — Toyota has launched a media campaign to bolster its reputation for quality as nervous customers confront dealers about faulty gas pedal systems. But crisis-management experts said yesterday that the recall of millions of cars and trucks isn't the Japanese automaker's only problem: Its message to Toyota owners — delivered in full-page ads yesterday in 20 major newspapers — isn't as clear and reassuring as it needs to be.

Today, the head of Toyota's North American sales division, Jim Lentz, is scheduled to appear on NBC's "The Today Show" to detail the company's plans for a fix.

NO CONSENSUS AS ECONOMIC FORUM ENDS

DAVOS, Switzerland — The world's foremost gathering of business and government leaders wrapped up yesterday with widespread agreement that a fragile recovery is under way but no consensus on what's going to spur job growth and prevent another global economic meltdown.

The gathering of some 2,500 VIPs at the annual World Economic Forum saw much spirited debate on whether more regulation is needed for the financial industry and how to lower global unemployment and find ways to ensure the nascent recovery is kept on course through 2010.

The atmosphere of doom and gloom that pervaded last year's forum, which took place at the height of the economic crisis, was replaced this year by some satisfaction that a modest recovery is under way but uncertainty about the way forward and how banks should respond.

BLOOMINGDALE'S OPENS DUBAI OUTLET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The city with the world's tallest building now has one more claim to fame: the only Bloomingdale's outside the United States.

Dubai's crown prince inaugurated the first international branch of the Manhattan institution in the Middle East's biggest shopping mall yesterday. The Dubai outpost includes a clothing and accessories store and a home furnishings store. Both are in the Dubai Mall, next to the world's tallest tower, Burj Khalifa.