LexFather

http://car-reviews.automobile.com/n...automaker/1916/

What a week for Hyundai Motor Co. and its subsidiary Kia Motors Corp. Not only have both brands enjoyed stellar performance on J.D. Powers and Associates highly influential Initial Quality Study (IQS), seeing the Hyundai division topple both Toyota and Honda to achieve the highest ranking amongst entry-level nameplates, third place with only 102 problems per 100 vehicles (only Porsche and Lexus are ahead), and Kia rise up through the ranks to place ahead of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mazda and Subaru, plus many others, but now, according to an Automotive News survey, Hyundai Automotive Group (which includes Kia) outpaced Nissan in 2005 to lay claim on the sixth worlds largest automaker title with a total of 3,715,096 global unit sales.

Automotive News surveyed global automotive sales and production of cars, light trucks, commercial vehicles and buses to arrive at the conclusion, which showed Hyundai Automotive Group registering an 11.6 percent improvement in global sales during 2005. No rival carmaker in the million-plus sales category came close to achieving what the Korean group did with regards to percentage gain. Therefore, Hyundai and Kia moved up a single ranking from seventh place the year before.

Where has all the growth come from? While Hyundai and Kia are making significant inroads in North America, both brands have made major gains in the Chinese, Indian and Russian markets.

While a celebration is no doubt under way at Hyundai-Kia group operations around the world, the Korean manufacturer has its long-term sights on the fifth largest ranking, targeting 2010 to move up one more notch. Is it doable? Never say never, of course, but it would mean continued growth by its Hyundai and Kia brands as well as a dramatic decrease in DaimlerChryslers sales, now sitting at 4,854,700 units - 1,139,605 units more than Hyundai Automotive Group. And DCX is pushing its Chrysler Group products more aggressively in Europe, Dodge for the first time, which should only strengthen its fifth place ranking.

Still, since 1999, Hyundai Automotive Group has passed Fiat, Honda, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, Nissan and Renault, in their quest to move into sixth place globally. Dont doubt that DaimlerChrysler AG is paying close attention.

Current Global Automaker Rankings:

Ranking - Manufacturer - 2005 Global Sales

1. General Motors - 8,381,805
2. Toyota Motor Corp. - 8,120,000
3. Ford Motor Co. - 6,208,700
4. Volkswagen AG - 5,242,793
5. DaimlerChrysler AG - 4,854,700
6. Hyundai Automotive Group - 3,715,095
7. Nissan Motor Co. - 3,597,748
8. PSA/Peugeot-Citroen SA - 3,390,000
9. Honda Motor Co. - 3,365,000
10. Renault SA - 2,533,428

Korean manufacturer has its long-term sights on the fifth largest ranking, targeting 2010 to move up one more notch. Is it doable? Never say never, of course, but it would mean continued growth by its Hyundai and Kia brands as well as a dramatic decrease in DaimlerChryslers sales, now sitting at 4,854,700 units - 1,139,605 units more than Hyundai Automotive Group. And DCX is pushing its Chrysler Group products more aggressively in Europe, Dodge for the first time, which should only strengthen its fifth place ranking.

Still, since 1999, Hyundai Automotive Group has passed Fiat, Honda, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, Nissan and Renault, in their quest to move into sixth place globally. Dont doubt that DaimlerChrysler AG is paying close attention.

videcormeum

Good for them. This is more Nissan's fault than it is Hyundai's victory though.

I'd buy Hyundai's offering in any segment before I'd buy Nissan's in the same.

M.

STIG

WOW look at the numbers for GM vs Toyota! I am pretty sure GM wont be too happy with that.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

I remember laughing at the excel in 93.

Yoko

wow

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Good for them. It's been nice to see them refine their cars with each new generation.

mmarshall

I reviewed one when it first came out in 1986 ( it was really an almost identically re-badged Mitsubishi Precis ) I didn't even laugh.....the car's engineering was too pathetic for that.

The 1984 Pontiac Fiero I drove was even more poorly assembled than the first Excel...but its engineering was a little better.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

rofl, i remember laughing at a sonata in 97

mmarshall

You said a couple of days ago in another CL Hyundai thread you would never buy one. Were you joking, or do you still feel that way?

spwolf

BTW, Nissan-Renault is bigger than Hyundai.

LexFather

Sorry, my experience with them was so bad, I will never buy another Hyundai product. As GM and Ford.

-J-P-L-

And there are still many people that still say hyundai is junk, even here on CL.

Less problems than Toyota and Honda, the two benchmarks in quality. Amazing.

Wonder what people would have thought if you told them just 5 years ago that Hyundai
would be one of the highest quality cars you could buy in 5 years. Built better than Mercedes,
BMW, and almost everyone else, except Lexus of course, people would laugh in your face histerically.

-J-P-L-

But wasn't this many years ago? The point is that they are now among the best in quality.

I guess that's why people still buy Mercedes and BMW, they USED to be good quality.
People never forget the past.

"All things change through time."

mmarshall

Let' try to put things in their proper persectives here....and I'm talking completely objective, not necessarily trying to take sides either way.

Hyundai clearly is not the company it once was, ripping people off with poorly made and poorly engineered vehicles, even considering their low prices. If you look at the new vehicles ( and by newer I generally mean those built since about 2000 ) you would be hard-pressed in many ways to tell them from today's Toyotas and Hondas in fit-and-finish, although Toyota still leads the industry in paint quality on low-priced cars. Hyundais, in my opinion ( and I have reviewed several of them this year, from the Accent all the way to the Azera and new Entourage minivan ) come from the factory in as good or better shape than anything else in their price class....and their warranty is truly first-class.

However, all is not roses yet. That excellent warranty ( shared with Kia, who Hyundai owns ) may have its days numbered as the company gets more firmly established once again in the American market.....the long warranty has essentially been a sales tool and an effort to convince potential customers ( correctly ) that the old Hyundai is gone. Hyundai, despite being a huge automaker now ( as this thread states they are now #6 in the world ) still, considering its size, does not offer a particularly wide line of vehicles....certainly not like Toyota, Ford, or Chevrolet, which literally offer dozens of different vehicles here in the U.S......and many more overseas. The new Entourage finally gives Hyundai a long-awaited minivan...in the past it relied on the Kia Sedona, which, while low-priced, reasonably well-made, and a good value, lacked the fold-down 3rd-row seats demanded by most of today's minivan buyers.
Hyundai also lacks a real sports car, pickup trucks, and large SUV's, though the Santa Fe has recently gone upmarket in size to about that of mid-sized SUV's. They lack any AWD passenger cars to compete with Subaru and Audi...only the Tuscon and Santa Fe have AWD. They also lack anything with real towing capability or real off-road capability. And, of course, they lack a really luxurious car....the $45,000 Equus, which would fill that role, for the time being is staying out of the U.S. market. ( perhaps due to the experience of the $ 70,000-$90,000 VW Phaeton ? )
Most U.S. market Hyundai engines also lack some efficiency compared to their major competitors. This is noticeable in many ( not all ) of their vehicles...a minor but noticeable lack of torque and not particularly good EPA mileage ratings to boot.

And, of course, there are areas where the experience has been both up and down. Their newer vehicles, almost all with good fit-and-finish now, have shown mixed reliability results in the actual hands of consumers. The Sonata has become really first-rate in quality...one of the best cars in Consumer Reports' database, although this year ( 2006 ) it is a new design in a new factory with new workers in a new country ( America )..time will tell if the quality keeps up. The Santa Fe has been slightly better then average The XG-300 and XG-350 were not particularly good.....average to below average in reliability. Other Hyundais...the Elantra, Accent, and Tiburon, were generally average in reliability. The year-old new Tuscon, despite being a nice design and good fit-and-finish like other Hyundais, has been below average in reliability. The Entourage and Azera are too new to have any previous records.

So there you have it...the way I see the company today. They are MUCH better than the Hyundai of the 1980's and 1990's but there is still room for improvement in some areas.