Nissan does smart business(?)

AlphaSnacks

Yeeep. People who say it's still a Hyundai forget that just 30-40 years ago, their cars were just Datsuns, and Datsuns were not perceived terribly well by the American populous.

Nearly every foreign product to break an international barrier here in the US had to go through the painstaking process of overcoming a certain inherent cheapness that would allow it to get its foot in the door, before making a truly quality product they can sell at competitive levels.

Kia and Hyundai started out at the bottom of the barrel in pricing and in quality, but they got their foot in the door and quickly improved it all across the board, winning awards left and right.