Toyota Motor Corp will recall 688,314 Camry and other sedans made at its two China joint ventures from Tuesday, its largest recall in the country, to fix a faulty electric switch to the window.
But analysts say the recall will not have any long-term impact on the Japanese auto maker's growth prospect in China as the defect is minor and only involves a single supplier.
The recall, which comes at time when Toyota has lost some of its steam after years of breakneck growth, may however swing some buyers to its European and U.S. rivals for now, they said.
"The size of the recall is big, but it won't be a major problem for Toyota given the nature of the defect. Still, there will be some impact for the short term," said Huang Zherui, an analyst with CSM Worldwide, a global industry consultancy.
In the first half, the Japanese automaker sold 284,000 passenger cars in China, almost unchanged from a year earlier, due largely to its limited offering of small models.