By Korean car maker Hyundai continues to turn heads with its cars and now the Japanese automakers are taking notice as well:
Hyundai Motor Co. – not the up-and-coming Chinese, not the leaner, meaner Americans – is the automaker that has the Japanese seriously worried.
Talk to any Japanese auto executive, and the official is likely to say the South Korean automaker is rapidly emerging as the most-feared competitor to Japan’s world-leading car companies.
“Hyundai is awesome,” Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive Takanobu Ito said in an interview with The Associated Press this week. “They are undoubtedly a threat because their products are cheap, and the quality is improving.”
Nissan Motor Co. Senior Vice President Shiro Nakamura agreed. He compared the rise of Hyundai to Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, which has grown to rival Japan’s Sony Corp., and said its cars were riding on their reputation for quality and affordability.
It may take another decade for China’s automakers to start seriously competing with Nissan, but Hyundai was there already, he said.
“Hyundai is the biggest threat for the Japanese automakers,” Nakamura said. “They have the technology, but they seem to have cheaper labor.” [Journal Gazette]
By the way has anyone driven the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe? I did a test drive of one and it is a nice car.
9:57 pm on October 4th, 2009 1
"By the way has anyone driven the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe?"
I was going to buy one…but I made the mistake of sitting in the backseat. That rear window arches very low over the headrest, making it impossible for an adult to sit comfortably (I like to go on road trips with my friends when the family is at my in-laws).
9:58 pm on October 4th, 2009 2
"leaner, meaner Americans"
Hahahhahahahhahahahah!
Are we talking about the same American car companies?
10:49 pm on October 4th, 2009 3
You are right about the back seat window it is low and the Genesis wouldn't be a practical vehicle for road trips of more then two people.
4:29 pm on October 5th, 2009 4
"It may take another decade for China’s automakers to start seriously competing with Nissan, but Hyundai was there already, he said."
Shouldn't he instead have been using Renault-Samsung as an example of the quality of Korean cars since they are, at least mechanically, Nissans?
(Renault owns both car companies)
8:56 am on January 22nd, 2010 5
They are giving away Genesis in America … but they still have a hard time trying to convince anyone it compares with a BMW or Lexus.