That's an important question. Mindsets are created based on experiences. Many of you are using the current Korean makes as examples to slam those with the so called 'anti Korean' mindset. But let me tell you that it was the Koreans themselves which created this mindset by giving us crap cars in the past. Go read up about Korean cars since the 1980's and ull see all the horror stories. We are not talking about 1 or 2 cases mind you.

The Japanese built their reputation over a long period. Ask any of our older generation of elders and they will mostly say that Toyota is the brand of choice even compared to some European makes. Right from the Toyota LE days which span more than 30 years. While the Koreans were busy producing crappy models (although not all), the Japanese were busy establishing themselves in the mind and hearts of their users. Loyalty isnt created overnight.

So now that the Koreans have awakened from their slumber and realised that they need to produce better cars before they become obsolete, we are getting better products with better specs and more futuristic designs. This is a good effort but to expect that the mentality of the ppl will change overnight just because of some good designs and specs is too much to ask for. The Japs took more than 30 years to build up the reputation they currently enjoy. Do u actually expect mentality changes and loyalty swings just cuz the Koreans came out with the Forte, Sportage, Sonata, Optima, etc in the last 3 years?

It will be a slow process which the Koreans need to patiently endure and persevere. Durability is still something that people are generally pessimistic about the Korean makes. Again dont blame them. End users did not merely imagine bad quality, they experienced it themselves. Ive got a Korean make in my home and im not impressed with its build quality at all. While there may be a few cases of good experiences among older Korean makes, but the general picture isnt good at all. But once ppl have the confidence, sales will improve and with that resale values will increase.

With the Koreans picking up steam, it only means that the Japanese cannot afford to relax any more and merely bank on loyalty to boost sales. They have to come up with better designs and specs to match the Koreans. All this means we the end users will get better products and more choice.

Cheers!