Hyundai Motor Company a division of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, is the world’s largest automaker by profit,^[2] the world’s fourth largest automaker by units sold^[3] and the world’s fastest growing automaker. Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, Hyundai operates the world’s largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility in Ulsan, 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. The company employs about 75,000 persons around the world, Hyundai vehicles are sold in 193 countries through some 6,000 dealerships and showrooms worldwide.

Hyundai entered the United States market in 1986 with a single model, the Hyundai Excel. The Excel was offered in a variety of trims and body styles. 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 (c. 126,000 vehicles).

Initially well received, the Excel’s faults soon became apparent; cost-cutting measures caused reliability to suffer. With an increasingly poor reputation for quality, Hyundai sales plummeted, and many dealerships either earned their profits on repairs or abandoned the product. At one point, Hyundai became the butt of many jokes (i.e. Hyundai stands for “Hope you understand nothing’s driveable and inexpensive”) 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.^[13]

In response, the parent company of Hyundai began investing heavily in the quality, design, manufacturing, and long-term research of its vehicles. It added a 10-year or 100,000-mile (160,000 km) powertrain warranty (known as the Hyundai challenge) to its vehicles sold in the United States. By 2004, sales had dramatically increased, and the reputation of Hyundai cars improved. In 2004, Hyundai tied with Honda for initial brand quality in a survey/study from J.D. Power and Associates, for having 102 problems per 100 vehicles. This made Hyundai second in the industry, only behind Toyota, for initial vehicle quality. The company continued this tradition by placing third overall in J.D. Power’s 2006 Initial Quality Survey, behind only Porsche and Lexus.^[14]

Hyundai continues to invest heavily in its American operations as its cars grow in popularity. In 1990, Hyundai established the Hyundai Design Center in Fountain Valley, California. The center moved to a new $30 million facility in Irvine, California in 2003, and was renamed the Hyundai Kia Motors Design and Technical Center. Besides the design studio, the facility also housed Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI, established in 1986), a subsidiary responsible for all engineering activities in the U.S. for Hyundai. Hyundai America Technical Center moved to its new 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m²), $117 million headquarters in Superior Township, Michigan (near Ann Arbor) in 2005. Later that same year, HATCI announced that it would be expanding its technical operations in Michigan and hiring 600 additional engineers and other technical employees over a period of five years. The center also has employees in California and Alabama.

Hyundai America Technical Center completed construction of its Hyundai/Kia proving ground in California City, California in 2004. The 4,300-acre (17 km²) facility is located in the Mojave Desert and features a 6.4-mile (10.3 km) oval track, a Vehicle Dynamics Area, a vehicle-handling course inside the oval track, a paved hill road, and several special surface roads. A 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m²) complex featuring offices and indoor testing areas is located on the premises as well. The facility was built at a cost of $50 million. An aerial view can be found here.^[15] Hyundai completed an assembly plant just outside Montgomery, Alabama in 2004, with a grand opening on May 20, 2005, at a cost of $1.1 billion. At full capacity, the plant will employ 2,000 workers. Currently, the plant assembles the Hyundai Sonata and the Hyundai Santa Fe. It is Hyundai’s second attempt at producing cars in North America since Hyundai Auto Canada Inc.’s plant in Quebec closed in 1993.

In 2003, according to Consumer Reports, Hyundai’s reliability rankings tied Honda’s.^[16]

In 2005, Hyundai authorized Ed Voyles’ Hyundai dealership in Smyrna, Georgia to become the first “deaf friendly” dealership in the entire world. The staff in this dealership are able to accommodate deaf customers with the use of American Sign Language and video conferencing phones.

In 2006, J.D. Power and Associates‘ quality ranking, overall the Hyundai brand ranked 3rd, just behind Porsche and Lexus, and beating long time rival Toyota.^[17] The brand overall is ranked much higher than the average industry and resale value continues to improve; a comparable 2003 Hyundai Sonata sedan ranks just $2200 below a similarly equipped Honda Accord, according to Kelley Blue Book Pricing 2006.

In 2006, the Hyundai Entourage minivan earned a five-star safety rating  – the highest honor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bestows – for all seating positions in frontal and side-impact crashes. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also rates “Good” – its highest rating – in front, side and rear impacts. The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, United States), in fact, named the 2006 Hyundai Entourage and Kia Sedona a “Gold Top Safety Pick,” making the safest minivan ever tested. ^[18][19][20]