Hyundai: Sales, Marketing, and Financial News
 

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Hyundai prepares for a rallying future

Hyundai Motor Company has announced exciting plans to re-enter the World Rally Championship in 2006, with a dynamic new car and in-house rally team. As part of the reorganisation, the company will establish a new World Rally Team headquarters at its Design and Technical Centre in Russelsheim, Germany and will begin aggressive recruitment of top talent to strengthen the team’s engineering capabilities.

In the run up to 2006, Hyundai will be concentrating on the development of its all-new Theta engine and new three-door hatchback codenamed RC. The company will then re-enter the World Rally Championship mid-way through 2006, and compete in the whole of the 2007 season and beyond.

Harry Choi, Global Marketing and Communications Senior Executive Vice President, said: "We’re competitors at heart and rallying has always been an integral part of our plans to grow the Hyundai brand.

"This withdrawal is temporary but absolutely mandatory in order for us to reorganise and rethink our entire approach. But we will be back in fighting form with a completely new engine and car."

The two year break will be used to intensify development work on the new powertrain, and build up additional resources to revitalise the WRC programme.

Mr Choi added that motorsport has been an effective tool for raising Hyundai’s brand awareness and promoting the quality of its products. But if the company is to expand its product portfolio to include performance cars, winning on the race track is absolutely vital to the marketing success of those future products.

Late this year, the company will begin recruitment of new staff with the aim of attracting top engineers to its new team headquarters in Russelsheim - and this includes drivers to assist in the development and testing.

Hyundai’s rally support team, currently based at the Namyang R+D Centre in Korea, will also relocate to Russelsheim as part of the effort to integrate all motorsport development activities in-house.

The Hyundai European Design and Technical Centre is located in Russelsheim, just outside of Frankfurt. This new 50 million Euro complex opened in July 2003 and is also home to Hyundai’s European marketing and sales headquarters.

nice to see companies do the right things and succeed

cool, i hope they sell a version to us

Hyundai stores to sell performance accessories
 

2003 SEMA: Hyundai stores to sell performance accessories


By MARK RECHTIN | Automotive News

LAS VEGAS -- Hyundai Motor America will sell aftermarket performance parts and accessories through its dealerships by year end.

Hyundai will not do the engineering or parts procurement; independent distributor H.A.R.D. Parts will handle that.

Thirty-two parts will be available to dealers by Christmas, and H.A.R.D. Parts will have an Internet link that connects to Hyundai's online factory parts catalog early in 2004, Roger Conner, president of H.A.R.D. Parts, said at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show.

H.A.R.D. Parts has taken engineering data from Hyundai and has gone to several suppliers to create prototype parts. H.A.R.D. Parts then performs the durability, quality and fit-and-finish tests on the parts and picks a supplier.

"There will be some appearance items, but the intent is to provide performance," Conner says. "We don't want to create an aftermarket smorgasbord, but we're doing the hard work for the customer. We're using suppliers who carry weight with customers and doing the engineering with them."

Among the vendors are Eibach springs, MSD ignition systems and BSC supercharger and turbo kits.

care?

Hyundai stylin’ at Detroit Auto Show
 

http://www.autoweek.com/weekart/2003...yundaihcd8.jpg

The first fruits of the Hyundai Design Center in California will appear as the HCD8 sports coupe concept vehicle at the Detroit auto show. Called a “stylish utility” vehicle, the coupe is powered by a supercharged version of the company’s 2.7-liter V6 engine.

Source: Autoweek

it looks very weird.. well, i'm going to auto show, so gotta see the real concept.

Looks like one of my big fat friends is sitting in it....frame damage?

Hyundai introduces industry-leading warranty
 

From CanadianDriver.ca


Do you guys get this warranty down in the states? I may look twice at a Hyundai next time I buy a car because of this (To bad they have nothing I like). No other company in Canada can touch this warranty.

Re: Hyundai introduces industry-leading warranty
 

"America's Best Warranty"

So they were holding out on us all this time? I know you guys get 4 years 60K on Acura in the US but we still get 3 years 60K KM's. At this rate my warranty is up sometime early next year while a Hyundai warranty would last me at least 3+ years.

Too bad they have an absolutely horrible product line.

Heh, "America's Best Warranty"
...good thing too, you'll need every last mile of it with a Hyundai. ;)

I'll take the Honda Emblem Warranty thanks... your car will work until the Honda/Acura emblem falls off. :)

I thought this was the warranty all along. I guess I was seeing US ads.

I would still never buy a hyundai, because warranty or not I dont feel like taking my car to the shop every month. Besides, the depreciate on those things is horrible.

Just announced April 2nd.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/040402-1.htm

Kia has a similar warranty to Hyundai....don't know about Kia in Canada.

Also, Isuzu with 10 year/120,000 miles powertrain warranty

One big difference is that in the US the warranty is to the original vehicle owner only. Hyundai is banking on the fact that not a lot of people will keep the car for the entire length of the warranty.

Hyundai to Pay Compensation For False Power Figures
 

Hyundai to Pay Compensation For False Power Figures
Posted 6/22/04 11:15 a.m. CDT

By Mark Rechtin
Automotive News

LOS ANGELES — Hyundai Motor America will pay owners about $30 million in compensation because it overstated horsepower figures on its vehicles for more than a decade.


Owners of Hyundai vehicles with horsepower overstated by more than 2.5 percent are eligible for compensation.

The compensation comes in the form of debit cards and dealership service vouchers, according to a court settlement reached in June.

About 858,000 Hyundai owners were eligible to take part in the class-action lawsuit, which was settled in Orange County (Calif.) Superior Court. A customer can choose either a same-as-cash debit card worth from $50 to $225 or a debit card worth as much as $325 in parts and service at Hyundai dealerships.

Hyundai overstated the ratings on about 1.3 million vehicles from the 1992 to 2003 model years. Ratings on some six-cylinder models were off by as much as 20 hp. Only owners of cars with horsepower overstated by more than 2.5 percent are included in the settlement. More than 400,000 units had horsepower numbers overstated by more than 4 percent.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Dan Girard says 120,000 claimants have stepped forward. That would trigger about $20 million in claims. Since damages can be claimed until July 29, the total count likely will be closer to 200,000 claimants and $30 million in damages, Girard says. Also, plaintiffs’ attorney fees will be levied, which could cost as much as $10 million.

“It’s a very competitive market,” Girard says. “People shop for cars online with vehicle comparators on Web sites to see how cars stack up. Every little edge can help in a situation like that. Hyundai was in the wrong, and they should pay dearly for that.”

Jason Erb, Hyundai Motor America senior counsel, says Hyundai had disclosed the errors and embarked on a goodwill program of free oil changes — a settlement that was thrown out of a Texas court before the lawsuit gained class-action status in California.

“Most people didn’t feel this was a big deal,” Erb says. “There were 44 people who said Hyundai wasn’t paying enough, but 10 times that many thought the suit was frivolous.”

One Hyundai owner who wanted nothing to do with the settlement was Gary Thompson of Solana Beach, Calif., who drives a 2000 Elantra. He considers the difference between the 136 hp of his car and the 140 hp cited by Hyundai literature to be inconsequential.

“These damages and attorney fees will go to the bottom line of Hyundai. The corporate officers are not going to get their salaries reduced over this,” Thompson says. “So it’s a situation where the perpetrators are not going to be punished, and the customers and shareholders will bear the burden of the cost.”

From Automotive News. Displayed with permission of Crain Communications Inc. Copyright 2004 Crain Communications Inc.;
http://www.cars.com/news/stories/062...y&aff=national

Engine Power Tests Will Change
 

Engine Power Tests Will Change


By Mark Phelan
Detroit Free Press

Car owners may soon gain more confidence in the horsepower that automakers claim for their vehicles.


New standards for horsepower claims will affect many automakers, including Jaguar.

A group of engineers is developing a new standard to verify automakers’ claims for the power their engines develop.

In the recent past, automakers from Jaguar to Hyundai have admitted they advertised unrealistically high output numbers for their cars.

“Horsepower numbers are absolutely important to our readers,” said Frank Markus, technical director of Car and Driver magazine. “It’s one of the most crucial numbers. It’s how we tell them why one car is better than another.”

The Society of Automotive Engineers is revising its standard for measuring horsepower and will suggest automakers have an independent observer to verify the numbers they claim for horsepower and torque, said David Landcaster, General Motors Corp. engineering group manager and chairman of the SAE committee developing the new standard.

One horsepower is the amount of force necessary to lift 550 pounds 1 foot in 1 second. SAE has developed standards for everything from motor oil to vehicle electronics.

The new standard will also set a procedure for how to test torque, the other main force automakers advertise.

Torque measures the turning force generated at the wheels. While high horsepower numbers generally equate to higher top speeds, torque determines a vehicle’s acceleration and ability to pull heavy loads.

“Companies have always been able to claim whatever horsepower they wanted,” Markus said. “Adding some accountability for the numbers would be a good thing.”

Car and Driver caught Jaguar claiming 10 more horsepower than its high-performance S-Type R model actually developed a couple of years ago. The automaker then revealed it used a test procedure that gave it higher numbers than what is generally accepted by engineers.

Automakers can test for horsepower and torque in a variety of ways, ranging from testing an engine sitting on a bench to evaluating the actual power transmitted to a vehicle’s wheels.

Ford and Mazda have also lowered horsepower claims in the past.

“It makes you suspicious when a car claims more horsepower but has less performance,” Markus said. “Some companies go with the number they like, especially when it gives them a nice round number like 400 horsepower.”

The current test, which was last revised in 1970, allows automakers to claim horsepower and torque figures higher than what most owners will actually experience, Landcaster said.

Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler support the idea of a new independently verified horsepower test.

The new standard should be written by the end of the year, Landcaster said. An SAE advisory committee will then decide whether to adopt the procedure and the use of outside witnesses to verify automakers’ claims.

This story was first posted on Oct. 21, 2003, on freep.com, one of 150 online affiliates of cars.com.

Copyright 2003 Detroit Free Press;
Image courtesy of the manufacturer

http://www.cars.com/news/stories/102103_storyb_fp.jhtml

:repost: I think.

Buyers rate Hyundai as high-quality, just second to Lexus in survey
 

By Earle Eldridge, USA TODAY

Comeback automaker Hyundai has scored big in yet another survey, this one measuring which vehicle brand provides the best value according to owners.

Hyundai, a budget brand from South Korea, came in second only to Toyota's (TM) luxury brand, Lexus, in the survey, released Monday. (List: 2004 Total Value Award Winners by category)

Strategic Vision, an automotive consulting firm, asked 74,000 owners to rate the overall value of their new cars and trucks based on price paid, affordability, expected reliability and resale value.

Lexus owners view their vehicles as a good value when comparing features, technology and pricing to other luxury brands, such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, says Daniel Gorrell, vice president of automotive practice for Strategic Vision.

TOP 10 MODELS IN TOTAL VALUE
Model,Total value index, Median price

Toyota Prius 815 $24,500
Mini Cooper 813 $24,000
Lexus LS 430 799 $61,508
Mercedes C-Class Sedan 798 $35,000
Lexus IS 300 794 $32,500
Lexus RX 330 789 $40,000
Infiniti FX 784 $42,000
Cadillac XLR 784 $80,000
Lexus SC 430 784 $63,000
Hyundai Tiburon 783 $20,500
Industry 717 $27,000
Source: Strategic Vision 2004 vehicle experience study


Hyundai scored well because the brand's vehicle quality has improved, its models have a long warranty and they are affordable.

In the late '90s, Hyundai's image suffered as engines and electrical systems failed and rust showed up. Dealers began abandoning franchises. "Not very long ago, they were the butt of jokes," Gorrell says.

Hyundai began to turn around when it started to focus on quality as it redesigned products and backed the new vehicles with an aggressive, 10-year warranty, says Robert Cosmai, head of Hyundai Motor America.

Over the past year, Hyundai has scored well in several automotive studies, including the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, which measures problems owners reported in the first 90 days. It also won recommended buy ratings from Consumer Reports magazine this year for the Santa Fe sport-utility vehicle, Sonata compact sedan and XG350 midsize sedan.

"It's pretty gratifying," Cosmai says. "Finally, it is resonating to the buying public that Hyundai provides tremendous value."

Except for luxury brands Cadillac and Volvo, nameplates from domestic automakers General Motors (GM), Ford (F) Motor and Chrysler Group (DCX) are missing from the top 10 best value list.

Big rebates and low-cost financing have made the Big Three's cars affordable, but buyers think the incentives merely price them where they should be, Gorrell says. "Incentives are not equating with value for the domestics."

He says the domestic brands need a "product renaissance" similar to Hyundai's. "Then they will have to rebuild the trust they have lost. This will be tough."

Besides Lexus, the Toyota brand scored well with its trucks but not as well with its cars. Much of the problems with Camry and Corolla are that they are older designs that lack features found in newer models, Gorrell says.

Even so, Toyota's Prius hybrid scored as the best value vehicle overall. And Toyota's new youth-oriented brand, Scion, tied with Mercedes-Benz as the No. 3 best valued band.


Source HERE

I'm not surprised. Hyundai's focus on improving quality is impressive. Good for them.

:werd: the new sonata looks really nice

Hyundai's reliability is for real at this point. All evidence shows so. Good for them. That should be a lesson for GM and the rest of the smartasses around.

i don't know why c-class in on the list. c-class is worthless.

Hyundai's Future
 

So the Tibby is moving up market and the Sonata Coupe will occupy the lower price strata?

Well, wouldn't the next Tibby remain where it is, to battle the Scion Tc, etc.? That way, the Sonata coupe would battle the Solara, etc. The Hyundai group would then offer the Kia roadster (seen on the other thread) to go against the 350Z.

What is that?

Anyways, I remember this HCD7 concept from a few years ago...it's my favorite Hyundai concept of all time. I wish they would build it.

http://irishcar.com/ICOimages/hyuhcd7.jpg

Yeah. That was a cool ass concept. Was it RWD. Maybe they'll use it for Hyundai's lux division.

yeah, i remember that one. not to big on the style though. wasn't that supposed to be a new equus?

Looks like Huyndai is going to be super busy. Great find!

I am guessing the Sonata Coupe will be exactly on the same league as our CL was in 2000 (as an 01 model). Similar size and build-quality.

How Hyundai's carmaking prowess went from punchline to powerhouse
 

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The 2006 Hyundai Sonata made a startling entrance at the Detroit auto show in January: It descended from the ceiling. Competitors who stepped onstage for a closer look were even more stunned by what Hyundai's sleekly redesigned flagship had to offer: six airbags, electronic stability control and a long list of standard equipment, all for less than $20,000.

Hyundai has been crashing a lot of parties lately. The Korean automaker, whose shabby cars made it a laughingstock just a few years ago, wants to move into the front ranks of carmakers--which would give Detroit even more headaches. In 1998 Hyundai ranked number 12 among global manufacturers, selling 1.3 million vehicles (including those of its sister company, Kia Motors). Last year it was number 7, jumping over such makers as Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën, with sales of just over 3.1 million vehicles.

Now it has set a grander goal: By 2010 it wants to sell 5 million vehicles globally, which would likely push it into the number five spot, now held by Volkswagen. For the moment General Motors is in first place with 9 million cars and light trucks in 2004.

Hyundai's rapid growth has been fueled by an extraordinary improvement in vehicle quality--and by targeting the once-ignored entry-level market. Last year Hyundai's cars sprang to a virtual dead heat with quality leaders Toyota and Honda in J.D. Power and Associates' annual study of initial vehicle quality. And the April Consumer Reports found the 2004 Sonata the most reliable car on the road, with just two problems per 100 vehicles.

Rivals aren't laughing anymore. In fact, Hyundai is now dictating trends that others must follow. Its success with cheap cars inspired General Motors to buy its own Korean company, Daewoo, to try to match Hyundai's offerings. Hyundai's breakthrough ten-year, 100,000-mile warranty spawned extended warranty offers by Chrysler and Mitsubishi. And the new Sonata, which goes on sale in May, raised the safety bar for midsize sedans by including stability control, a feature it will make standard on all its vehicles. A month after the Sonata's debut in Detroit GM announced it, too, would make stability control standard on all cars and trucks by 2010.

The U.S. market--largest in the world--is Hyundai's biggest target, but it's also betting heavily on Europe and on fast-growing China and India, with new plants in each region. With militant labor unions in Korea, Hyundai also plans to use India as an export base for small cars.

"It's a company we must watch out for," says Honda Chief Executive Takeo Fukui. Even Toyota, widely considered the world's best automaker, is looking over its shoulder at the Koreans. Says Toyota President Fujio Cho: "We will watch them more carefully than in the past and try not to be overwhelmed by them."

For U.S. automakers Hyundai's rise is like a rerun of a bad movie. "To some extent they are doing what the Japanese did before them, but on a faster track," says Dieter Zetsche, chief of Chrysler.

Now Hyundai is taking another page from the Japanese handbook: It's building a 168,000-square-foot design and engineering center near Detroit and a $1 billion, 2-million-square-foot factory outside Montgomery, Ala. It plans to build 300,000 Sonata sedans and Santa Fe SUVs annually in Montgomery. That production would put Hyundai closer to its goal of doubling U.S. sales to one million units by 2010. (GM's U.S. sales totalled 4.7 million vehicles in 2004.) The nonunion wage rate in Alabama is $14 per hour to start, rising to $21 in two years, versus $7 in Korea. But Hyundai says manufacturing in Alabama makes sense because of currency considerations and proximity to the U.S. market.

Can Hyundai hit its ambitious goals? For all the progress the company has made, the long-term durability of its vehicles remains suspect. In the past three years its ranking has improved steadily in J.D. Power's initial-quality study (which tracks problems in the first 90 days of ownership), but it ranks near the bottom in another J.D. Power study, which measures vehicle dependability in three-year-old cars. "This year will be a good litmus test to see if their short-term quality gains will translate into long-term durability," says Chance Parker, J.D. Power's executive director of product research and analysis.

Hyundai's turnaround began under its workaholic Chairman Mong-Koo Chung, 67, whose father founded the company in 1967. Long the heir apparent and aching to run the prominent auto unit controlled by his uncle, Chung was instead stuck during the 1980s with responsibility for Hyundai's aftersale service and dealerships. Back then Hyundai Motors' sole purpose was to churn cars out of factories. It showed that volume took precedence over quality in the 1980s and 1990s.

But it was Mong-Koo Chung who had to clean up the mess. Irate customers complained to dealers, and costly repairs were made on Hyundai's shoddy cars, all by his unit. Finally in 1999, after the Asian financial crisis and a breakup of the company, his father handed Mong-Koo the reins to Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, moving the uncle aside.

Chung's first step: Replace the bean counters in top management with engineers. Then he began working methodically on a strategy to challenge Toyota for leadership in J.D. Power's quality rankings. He hired a raft of consultants and worked closely with J.D. Power experts to benchmark the world's best auto companies. He sent Korean quality task forces to the U.S. to study weather and road conditions, as well as driver habits.

Chung expanded the quality department tenfold, to 1,000 people, and made it report directly to him. He also encouraged employees to share their ideas for improvement, promising bonuses that averaged $150. At Hyundai's Asan factory, outside Seoul, workers have dropped 25,000 ideas into the suggestion box, of which 30% have been adopted. One worker won $500 after noticing that the Sonata and the XG 350 sedans had differently shaped covers over their spare tires. Sharing the cover saves the company $100,000 a year.

Chung, a freckled, round-faced golf lover, starts each week with a demanding quality meeting at 9 o'clock Monday morning. As many as 50 engineers, designers, suppliers and factory managers are summoned to a large conference room for three hours. Cars are displayed on turntables, or even on hydraulic lifts, so that Chung and his quality experts can see the problems firsthand. "He's not looking at it on paper; he's very hands-on," says Robert Cosmai, chief executive of Hyundai Motor America.

Chung is so obsessed with quality that he's been known to take the unusual--and expensive--step of modifying a car's design midway through its life cycle, or even delaying a car's launch to resolve niggling issues.

The new Sonata's launch in Korea was held up for two months after the newly empowered quality department identified nearly 50 problems it wanted fixed. Employees at the Asan factory, where the Sonata is built, worked feverishly to fix such things as a tiny error in the size of the gap between two pieces of sheet metal near the headlight, even though it wasn't obvious to the naked eye and didn't affect the car's operation. "It was narrower than 0.1 millimeter," says Sang Kil Han, the quality manager who noticed the gap and then worked every weekend and until 10 p.m. nightly to identify its cause. Sixty factory managers, assembly-line workers, supplier experts and engineers from Hyundai's nearby research and development center pored over the problem for 25 days before it was solved with special training for those assembling that part.

Drive tests revealed a rattle coming from the Sonata's front doors. It took two months to fix: Engineers replaced the plastic strip at the bottom of the door with a more rubbery polymer at a cost of 40 cents more per car. Had the same problem occurred five years ago, "we'd probably leave it," says Don Hyung Jo, manager of the Asan factory quality control department.

Most automakers keep tabs on customer complaints and deal with them all at once, when a car is due to be redesigned. But Hyundai scrambled to respond in 2003 after Santa Fe buyers complained of wind noise. Engineers redesigned the side-view mirrors to reduce friction and relocated a crossbar on the vehicle's luggage rack. The result was impressive: Santa Fe's initial quality score improved from 149 problems per 100 vehicles on J.D. Power's 2003 study to 93 the following year.

The better quality has helped build brand loyalty among Hyundai owners. Four of the top five cars traded in to Hyundai dealers are Hyundais, according to auto research site Edmunds.com. "Before, Hyundai was a springboard to other makes," says Michael Chung, analyst at Edmunds.

Kia's quality has improved dramatically, too, but it started much lower. Since buying a controlling interest in Kia in 1998, Hyundai has moved to consolidate much of the product development efforts. The first vehicles to use a common chassis--the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage compact SUVs--recently went on sale. "A year and a half from now, we'll be at Toyota-quality levels, too," vows Kia's U.S. president, Peter Butterfield.

Both companies have a pipeline full of new products on the way. After the Tucson and Sonata, Hyundai will replace its Accent, Elantra and XG 350 sedans, and add a larger Santa Fe, with three rows of seats, and a new minivan. Kia will introduce redesigned versions of its Sedona minivan, as well as its Rio and Optima sedans. One challenge is keeping Hyundai and Kia distinct. Company officials define Hyundai vehicles as "refined and confident." Kias are "exciting and enabling."

For recent models the two have been able to charge higher prices--and hence enjoy better margins. But Hyundai must be careful not to let prices creep up too much, says its former U.S. chief, Finbarr O'Neill. "The biggest challenge for Hyundai is always hubris," says O'Neill, now chief executive of Reynolds & Reynolds, an automotive software and services company in Dayton, Ohio. Emerging Chinese automakers are eager to move into the entry-level market Hyundai and Kia have come to dominate.

The goodwill that Hyundai has built up could also be jeopardized if it stumbles with the factory launch in Alabama. Poor quality at a now-defunct Canadian factory killed Hyundai's sales momentum in North America in the early 1990s. Built on what was once a rolling cow pasture, Hyundai's new factory is highly automated, with 250 robots converting stamped steel into welded vehicle bodies. In the paint shop vehicles do ten somersaults through dip tanks to ensure each coat is applied without trapping air that can cause imperfections. All that automation helps keep down labor costs and ensure quality. But "once something goes wrong, the whole operation shuts down," says Hyundai Chief Executive Dong-Jin Kim, 55. To guard against that, Hyundai brought 400 American workers to visit the Asan factory in Korea and sent 60 Koreans to the Alabama plant so that they could learn from each other.

Hyundai officials are wrestling with expanding their line into luxury cars and pickup trucks. A decision on a luxury brand won't be made until at least 2007. Pickups would probably require construction of another U.S. plant, says Butterfield.

No one should be surprised if it happens. To other automakers, Hyundai is looking like the party guest who won't go home.

www.forbes.com/work/forbes/2005/0418/098.html

^ Hyundai's a beast right now. Truly, another big headache for GM and Ford, in addition to Jap's big three.

The Americans are falling farther and farther behind. Considering that Hyundai produces around the same quality as most US manufacturers right now for a fraction of the price, it's not looking good for the home team...

I'd agrue that they're the same quality as Honda. At least in interior fit and finish. I was recently in a dealership having a look at the Sante Fe and Tucson and was amazed at the level of fit and finish and feel of materials in those cars.

Can't say the same for the Accent and Elantra though.

I have no interest in the Santa Fe or Tuscon, but can attest to the fact that the Accent, Elantra, and Tiburon have interior materials and quality that is no better than the GM parts bin stuff.

However, their build quality might actually be better than the American manufacturers.

In fact, the Hyundai XG350 is a very nicely pieced together car.

I used to own a 1989 Sonata and after that experience I swore never to own another Hyundai again.

But today, given the choice between a Hyundai or a GM, I'd pick the Korean.

They might be ugly and not high-tech, but statistics show that they're better than US cars in reliability, and going up.

Even that's changing. Though generic, I think the new Sonata's a good looking car. With a rear that screams ("This is what the Accord's should be."). The Tiburon looks good, IMO, and the new flaghip (XG350 replacement) is a good looking car too. Hyundai's really getting their styling together.

sad, but true.