AlexusAnja

I put "superior" and let me try to voice this out correctly. I fell that Honda and Toyota have "cheapened" down to a lower standard where they are now on par, or below some Hyundai products. It's not that Hyundai has really risen to meet Toyota/Honda let's say.

Case in point, I've been in the Pilot, Highlander, RAV4, Camry, Civic, all vanilla vehicles that Hyundai has answers for (Veracruz, Sonata, Elantra, Santa Fe), and each of the Japanese vehicles are now lined with hard plastic interior door panels, cheap plastic covers on cup holders to glove boxes, and coin doors. The rides seem noisier and the "Japanese smoothness" is not so smooth any more. Some Hyundai's suffer from the same hard plastic interiors (Elantra, Santa Fe), but they started that way and really, will only get better with time.

The Veracruz, which was designed more to be a RX fighter, is priced more in line with the Pilot and interior quality is far superior to the Pilot, and Highlander for that matter. The Sonata I think is on par with any Accord/Camry, and the new Sonata will probably be even better.

Someone mentioned that Hyundai is where Toyota was in the '90s... well, I think the Toyota of the 90's were better than the Toyotas of today. The engineering and finesse of the powertrain is better today, but interior quality is not. So I don't think saying that Hyundai is the '90s Toyota is necessarily a bad point.

Also, who says you need a "full line" meaning pickup trucks and full size SUV to be a true manufacturer. Maybe Hyundai can see beyond having to make too many models and making TOO BIG vehicles and wasting resources in both manufacturing cost, R&D, and effort. Maybe they want to concentrate on "family" vehicles and have a strong core competency of vehicles.

Lastly, people see the Veracruz and Genesis as failures to compete with Lexus' RX and GS. That's more a marketing issue with Hyundai and trying to bite off more than they can chew really, but I see it as a big win in having two vehicles that Toyota and Honda don't have anything to counter with. Pilot/Highlander to Veracruz? NOPE... Avalon, Accord/Camry to Genesis? Not even close.

If Hyundai gets their marketing head and arrogance out of the clouds and does their luxury segment right, with a correct new brand launch and good market segmentation, then I really have no doubt they they can also be a big player in the luxury market also. Whether they can reach tier 1 status, only time will tell... but as history has shown us, if you have the energy and drive to do something, it can be done.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Nah,not yet.
Resale value of Hyundais are still low.

Och

iTrader: (3)

I wouldn't be surprised to see Huyndai in some financial trouble in the nearmost future. In these tough times when everyone is cost cutting and still loosing money, Huyndai seems to improve, invest in new, fairly low volume car, and still undersells the competition? Unless they are getting free money, very cheap labor and very cheap material, I don't see how they can sustain it.

The G Man

You hit the nail on the head, in football terms, this is Hyundai's 3rd down. Its make or break, Hyundai spended millions designing these new models and the sales number have to go up quite a bit to make a profit. Looking at their current product line, they should be able to do that with no problem.
Hyundai do have cheap labor and less government regulation on their side, but like all other manufacturers, they are facing higher labor and material cost. Many have notice Hyundai is not exactly a bargain anymore, if this upward trend in pricing continues, Hyundai will price itself out of the market.
Hyundai continues to be a bargain shopper's brand, if their products are the same price as Toyota or Honda, most people would bypass Hyundai. Their quality, product line, dealer and many other things have to change b 4 they can change the public preception of that image.

rogers2

I think hyundai is now as ligitimate a mainstream brand as Toyota & Honda. I really don't care that Honda & Toyota sale twice as many cars. I just don't see the 2 companies in the same light as I use to a few years back. Hey Toyota & Honda stop making all these tiny cars with cheap interiors just to boost sales.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Unfortunately I feel the same way.

TRDFantasy

I would say close, but not quite there yet.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

The main reason they're no longer "cheap" is because it's their 3rd down. They plan on using Kia as their bargain brand and raising Hyundai to Toyota/Honda levels so they can charge Toyota/Honda prices. I hope it works out for them.

Epik151

Hyundai posted record profits this year didn't they?

Why? Because they're not as focused in the NA market like almost all the other brands. You think they're getting more popular in the U.S.? Well, it's even more marketshare gain in China, Brazil, India, Russia.

They're not in any financial trouble at all.

The G Man

Hyundai’s 2008 pre-tax profit is $1.3 billion which is a 19% fall from the previous year. Many predict the company will again post a double-digit profit fall this year. The key is that, even with the drop in profit, they remain in the black.

TRDFantasy

Not now, but they might be in the future. We shall see.

So wait, Toyota and Ford are focused only on the NA market? Funny, last time I checked Ford was huge in Europe and Toyota was very popular in a lot of overseas markets. It's also obvious that VW is popular almost everywhere except the NA market.

lex

I think they're still crap because I can't get over the memory of sitting in a couple of Hyundais at an autoshow. They all had the same gray gear lever sticker and they all had this strong weird smell that gave you a headache.

The G Man

Its memories like that which cause buyers to associate Hyundais with cheap cars. Hyundai have to be twice as good quality wise and at half of the price to change that image.

rdgdawg

Traded my 2007 IS250AWD for a 2009 Sonata V-6 Limited... have yet to regret the decision

IS-SV

Aren't you going to miss the AWD up north, or do you have another rig for snow......................