Hyundai

The Hyundai Motor Company is a South Korean manufacturer of automobiles. In 2003 it was South Korea's largest car maker and the world's seventh largest car maker. HMC operates the world's largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility in Ulsan on South Korea's southeast coast.

History.
Chung Ju-yung founded the Hyundai Motor Company in 1947 as Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Hyundai Motor Co. (HMC) was 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 unique Korean car, was released, based on Japanese technology from Mitsubishi. The Pony was exported for the first time in 1976. 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 low price. The company began to produce models with its own technology in 1988, beginning with the midsize Sonata.

Hyundai cars are often perceived as low-end, unreliable, and undrivable due to their build quality. Recently, Hyundai has begun to overhaul its image in an attempt to establish itself as a reliable brand. The efforts seem to be a success as of late, as Hyundai's sales continue to climb year after year. Hyundai now is the fastest-growing auto brand in the United States. Essentially, Hyundai's parent company, Hyundai Motor Group, began investing heavily in the quality, design, manufacturing, and long-term research of its vehicles starting in 1998, and added a 10-year or 100,000 mile warranty to its vehicles in the United States. This effort has paid dividends for Hyundai, as overtime their quality has become the polar opposite of the original cars to enter the United States. 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 rating, for the Hyundai and Honda brands, is second in the industry behind Toyota when looking at grouped branding (Toyota would be ranked as Toyota, Lexus, and Scion together; Honda would be ranked as Honda and Acura together), but when looked at without grouped branding, Honda and Hyundai both tied for making the highest quality automobiles in the American market.

Despite the fact that Hyundai now makes reliable vehicles considered to be of good quality, many still hold to the notion that Hyundais are low quality, "cheap" cars. It would seem, however, that statistics and consumers would suggest otherwise.

In 1998, after a shake-up in the Korean auto industry caused by overambitious expansion and the previous year's financial crisis, Hyundai acquired 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 August 2004, DaimlerChrysler sold its 10.5 percent stake in Hyundai for $900 million USD.

Hyundai has invested millions of dollars in its American branch, and has opened a design plant in Michigan, a test track in California, and a Sonata plant in Alabama due to the brand's growing popularity there.

Business.
HMC is part of the Hyundai Motor Group. In 2003, it had annual sales of $38.994 BN and a net income of $1.486 BN, with 51,471 employees.

Hyundai has been investing in Hyundai manufacturing plants in North America, India, China, Turkey and research and development centers in North America, Japan and Europe.