Hyundai

The Hyundai Motor Company, a division of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, is South Korea's largest and the world's Sixth Largest Automaker. Its headquarters are in Seoul, South Korea. In Ulsan, South Korea Hyundai operates the world's largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility which is capable of producing 1.6 million units annually. The Hyundai logo, a slanted, stylized 'H' is said to be symbolic of two people (the company and customer) shaking hands. Hyundai means "modernity" in Korean.

Chung Ju-Yung founded the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company in 1947. Hyundai Motor Company was later established in 1967. The company's first model, the Cortina, was released in cooperation with Ford Motor Company in 1968. In 1975, the Pony, the first Korean car, was released, with styling by Giorgio Giugiaro of ItalDesign and powertrain technology provided by Japan's Mitsubishi Motors. Exports began in the following year to Ecuador and soon thereafter to the Benelux countries. In 1991, the company succeeded in developing its first proprietary gasoline engine, the four-cylinder Alpha, and transmission, thus paving the way for technological independence.

In 1986, Hyundai began to sell cars in the United States, and the Excel was nominated "Best Product #10" by Fortune magazine, largely because of its affordability. The company began to produce models with its own technology in 1988, beginning with the midsize Sonata.

In 1998, Hyundai began to overhaul its image in an attempt to establish itself as a world-class brand. Chung Ju Yung transferred leadership of Hyundai Motor to his son, Chung Mong Koo, in 1999. Hyundai's parent company, Hyundai Motor Group, invested heavily in the quality, design, manufacturing, and long-term research of its vehicles. It added a 10-year or 100,000 mile warranty to cars sold in the United States and launched an aggressive marketing campaign.

In 2004, Hyundai was ranked second in "initial quality" in a survey/study by J.D. Power and Associates. Hyundai is now one of the top 100 most valuable brands worldwide. Since 2002, Hyundai has also been one of the worldwide official sponsors of the FIFA World Cup.

In 2006, the South Korean government initiated an investigation of Chung Mong Koo's practices as head of Hyundai, suspecting him of corruption. On April 28, 2006, Chung was arrested, and charged for embezzlement of 100 billion won (US$106 million), with Hyundai Vice Chairman and CEO, Kim Dong-jin taking over as head of the company.

In 1998, after a shake-up in the Korean auto industry caused by overambitious expansion and the Asian financial crisis, Hyundai acquired rival Kia Motors. In 2000, the company established a strategic alliance with DaimlerChrysler and severed its partnership with the Hyundai Group. In 2001, the Daimler-Hyundai Truck Corporation was formed. In 2004, however, DaimlerChrysler divested its interest in the company by selling its 10.5 percent stake for $900 million.

Hyundai has invested in manufacturing plants in the North America, China, India, and Turkey as well as research and development centers in Europe, North America, and Japan.

In 2004, Hyundai Motor Company had $57.2 billion in sales in South Korea making it the country's second largest corporation, or chaebol. Worldwide sales in 2005 reached 2,533,695 units, an 11 percent increase over the previous year. Hyundai has set as its 2006 target worldwide sales of 2.7 million units (excluding exports of CKD kits).

Hyundai motor vehicles are sold in 193 countries through some 5,000 dealerships and showrooms. After a recent survey of global automotive sales by Automotive News, Hyundai is now the sixth largest automaker in the world, surpassing Nissan, Honda, and many other major brands, selling 3,715,096 units in 2005.

Hyundai Motor Company's brand power continues to rise as it was ranked 72nd in the 2007 Best Global Brands by Interbrand and BusinessWeek survey. brand value estimated at $4.5 billion. Public perception of the Hyundai brand has been transformed as a result of dramatic improvements in the quality of Hyundai vehicles.

Hyundai entered the United States market in 1986 with only one model, the Hyundai Excel. The Excel was offered in a variety of trims and bodystyles. That year, Hyundai set a record of selling the most automobiles in its first year of business in the United States compared to any other car brand (a staggering 126,000 vehicles).

Initially well received, the Excel's faults soon became apparent. Also, efforts to bring costs down made reliability suffer. With an increasingly poor reputation for quality, Hyundai sales plummeted, and many dealerships began abandoning franchises. At one point, Hyundai became the butt of many jokes and even made David Letterman's Top Ten Hilarious Mischief Night Pranks To Play In Space: #8 - Paste a "Hyundai" logo on the main control panel.