Has Hyundai Been Able To Reshape Their Image?

It doesn't seem that long ago that Hyundai was getting more chuckles than customers. However, sales growth in recent years indicates that Hyundai has perhaps found their footing and won some respect.

The fact that Hyundai's reputation and market acceptance has risen is actually a fairly notable achievement, given their history of producing ample fodder for laughs on the likes of the Tonight Show and Letterman. Today, however, they're taken quite seriously. The times have changed for this South Korean automaker with U.S. sales now surpassing the 5,000,000 mark.

Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986 with a compact sedan called the Excel. Actually, sales were surprising brisk, as they sold 100,000 units in just 7 months. There was a problem, however. Hyundai was not yet prepared to provide adequate service for the number of cars sold. This really hurt their image for quality and their reputation suffered significantly.

Adding fuel to the fire were subsequent models that didn't stand up to American standards for expected levels of quality.

The turn around began in earnest in 1999 when a new Chairman, Chung Mong-koo, stressed quality as the company's #1 priority, while investing heavily in new product designs. And the results have been impressive.

In 2006, for example, J.D. Power ranked Hyundai #1 for non-luxury brands, beating out Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. And when including luxury brands, Hyundai was ranked No. 3.

And edmunds.com says, "Hyundai is known for producing vehicles that offer great value at low prices".

This emphasis on quality has fueled Hyundai's U.S. market share up to 3.4%. And last year, Hyundai sold 450,000 vehicles in the U.S.. It's target for 2007 is 550,000 units.

Hyundai has also become known for attractive pricing, plenty of features, and a 100,000 mile Factory Warranty, one of the longest in the industry.

It's for these reasons that people, still laughing from the old days, may want to add Hyundai to their list of new or used cars to consider the next time they're in the market.

By Joshua Rose.

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Hyundai, The Best And The Worst?

In Korean, Hyundai means modern or modernity. And the Hyundai Motor Company and the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, is a company based in South Korea which has been known to be a manufacturer of automobiles and vehicles. In fact, in the mentioned country, Hyundai is the largest creator of modern vehicles. In the world ranking, the company is considered to be the seventh largest car maker. Along with vehicles and automobiles, Hyundai also creates Hyundai auto body parts for the various Hyundai owners around the globe.

However, as modern as Hyundai and Hyundai’s name may seem, there are various reports that the vehicle manufacturer has been considered to be both a brand and a company with the best and also the worst products. Such a kind of title would seem to be quite demeaning for the company and could also affect their sales.

So what would be the basis for such a kind of claim? Well, according to reports, experts, and to those who have taken Hyundai vehicles for a spin, the type of vehicles that the company has is quite contrasting. An example would be the Hyundai NF Sonata and the Daewoo Statesman which are both vehicles from the company. The former is the best seller for this year, 2006, while on the other hand, the latter has been found somewhere along the lowest when it comes to sales. Such a turn of events could quite be confusing on the end of consumers and they might actually have to take second thoughts on purchasing a vehicle from Hyundai.

You see, the Hyundai NF Sonata has took the best selling model record for this year. In fact, even at the very start of this year, the vehicle has constantly been riding on such a kind of success. It has already had 94,175 units sold just during the first ten months, and this statistic is according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturer’s Association or KAMA.

On the other hand, it is sad to note that the Daewoo Statesman has suffered from quite a low number of sales, even despite the fact that its family has been quite popular in the market.

By Tracy Dawson.