bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

yes. Hyundai is offering rwd and sporty vehicles, unlike Toyota now.

and yes, it's true they don't have trucks, but they do offer a load of SUVs including their Kia brand. the Borrega is big and there's lots of smaller ones. yes, they don't offer a Sequoia sized one but in this economy that's not a liability!

mmarshall

On the issue of whether Hyundai is now "mainstream" or not, one matter that the thread doesn't seem (yet) to be taking into consideration is not only Hyundai's meteoric rise in both sales and quality, but also the sharp reduction in size that both Ford and GM have taken in the last couple of years. Until recently, Hyundai had grown to anywhere between the 6th and 9th largest automaker on the planet, depending on who did the rankings and how it was done. In the meantime, GM has sold off Saturn, axed Oldsmobile, has announced plans to ax Pontiac, and is trying to sell off Saab and Hummer. Ford sold off Jaguar and Land Rover and has sharply cut back on Mercury. These actions by its competitors, besides Hyundai's own physical growth, have no doubt helped in its rise to the position it is in today. Hyundai has also benefitted in size, of course, by its own takeover of Kia.