Quote:
Originally Posted by Limeybastard
Americans love Hyundai's. Last time I checked this country is the biggest purchaser of Hyundais outside of S Korea.
I remember when I first came to America back in 2007, I was like WTF is with all the Sonatas and shite on the road. I couldnt come to terms with it at the time.
I never recall ever seeing an Acura in Europe when I lived there. Its all just Honda. Even the NSX was a Honda NSX.
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Up until Hyundai's recent models, I wasn't really a fan either. About 20 years ago their cars were worthless than scrap metal. I still remember my uncle's Excel that I swear I could rip apart with a butter knife. 10 years ago, their styling was terrible, but build quality was on par with some American cars. With the market collapse, people in the US started buying them because they were relatively less expensive than their counterparts and they offered a lengthy warranty compared to others (5-year bumper-to-bumper with a 10-year powertrain). That's a huge plus for most consumers. People who just needed a car to get them from A to B swallowed them up and the rest is history. This is pretty much how Nissan and Toyota gained footing in the 80's and 90's.
Word of mouth just started to spread and most of their line-up surprisingly started becoming more reliable. About 4-5 years ago, I think they really up'd the ante and came out with bolder styling and better build quality. My wife had an '04 Santa-fe which we just traded in for a new Tucson. I gotta say, I'm truly impressed with the overall improvement in build quality over her old car. It's night and day and I would honestly consider placing Hyundai on the list of companies if I were buying a new car now. I sat in a new Sonata & Santa-Fe Sport in the dealership and it was a lot nicer than what Nissan, Toyota, Mazda or Honda has to offer so far. The Genesis Coupe is still meh...but it looks like they're at least headed in the right direction. Only issue will all this is pricing. Hyundai is no longer the cheap/bargain alternative. It's definitely more in-line with other companies now and the price points show it.
The badging is used by companies to charge higher premiums for certain cars. It makes sense in the US because of the way our cars are priced. Some companies like Toyota for example, have models that overlap if they didn't separate from Lexus. Rather than cannibalizing sales from one model to another, it makes more sense to have a standalone company that offers more of a niche luxury market. This can be beneficial to companies with a large model portfolio. It also has a lot to do with being able to create costly dealerships outlets. It's why Hyundai is still on the fence about separating it's Genesis line-up. With only a 3 or so models so far, it doesn't bode well on the logistics side to construct a new network of dealerships. In the UK, the market is significantly different. They frankly have different taste when it comes to cars and more often flock to smaller cars. Luxury brands are a bit more difficult to introduce in the UK especially when you have established brands with better pedigree right next door.