Future outlook of the industry

"Toyota won't lose its market-leader position all of a sudden after this recall crisis," Lee of the KIET said. "If anything, their market-share may slightly drop and it might lose some of its loyal customers; but it won't be as significant to completely alter the market outlook."

A notice reading "not affected by Toyota's voluntary recall" is seen on a Toyota car at a Toyota showroom in New York, March 2, 2010. It was announced on Monday that Toyota has informed more than 1 million American and Japanese customers of a fault that leads to an oil leak in Toyota vehicles. [Xinhua photo]

Bae of KAIST said, "In fact, Toyota may emerge as a more complete company after the recalls," as the company's world- beating mechanical skills remain unchanged and it has only added stronger safety measures, making it an even more "dangerous" brand.

"And the same theory applies to South Korean automakers -- they will gain more competitiveness in the market with added quality- control measures on top of its already developed manufacturing technology," Bae said.

One area that may see drastic changes is in the government regulations as the United States and Japan have already announced to step up its probe to quality issues for all of its domestic automakers in response to Toyota's recalls.

There's no question South Korea will follow suit, Lee said, adding, "It's only natural for the South Korean government to enhance regulations on its carmakers' quality-control measures as well, although it may put increased pressure on the companies' production costs as a result."