Hyundai Cars Highly Rated by US Consumers

I would not hesitate to recommend the Hyundai Sonata to my friends. Heck, if I needed a 4-door daily commuter, I'd probably get one myself. It undercuts the competition by thousands of dollars while offering more options such as sunroof, leather seats, etc. It also has a pretty good warrenty.

However, one thing to think about- as good as their cars are these days, they still suffer from bad reputation from their early days. Hence, the resale value on these current Hyundais will be a lot lower than the Accords and the Camrys. In the end, it kinda washes out but at least no one is laughing at Hyundais now.

It took them over 20 years to get this far. I wonder how long it would take the new Chinese car manufacturers to achieve the same. My bet is "much longer than 20 years".

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The Hyundai Genesis comes to mind along with the rear wheel drive Tirburon replacement. Something to be excited about.

The value is definitely there but I suspect it'll finish midpack in the comparison tests with praises regarding its value, fit/finish and complaints about lack of road feel and generic stlying.

I'm looking forward though. Hyundai is making a bold statement on this one and i want to see what it can do.

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That is a fair assessment. Did you know this is the longest tested car Hyundai has ever done? It has been something like two years (possibly two and a half to three) in the making. This is something I wrote last year when the first Genesis concept images emerged along with previous rumors that Hyundia was going upmarket:

Yesterday as I was walking around downtown Naperville, I began thinking about Hyundai's prospects as a luxury brand and wondered if it would be fully realized by the public. I am slightly going back on what I said in the previous topic I made almost two years ago. I had mentioned that Ferrari's build quality had improved since the mid 90's. The thing that got me thinking is that people bought into Ferrari when the quality wasn't exactly worth the price. I shouldn't have even brought up Ferrari in the first place because the company is a whole different league to Hyundai. Brand image is far more important to selling cars in North America while build quality makes up a certain percentage of how people interpret that brand impression.

We all know Hyundai is a mass-production manufacturer, which I am confident there are much more Hyundai cars compared to the total Ferrari cars that are out in the roads or garages despite Ferrari being in the business of building automobiles much earlier. With that said, there are more Hyundai cars on the road driven by people from a variety of incomes. That is a no-brainer. The biggest difference between Hyundai and its soon to be rivals is that it doesn't have enough credibility to enter a luxury market albeit at an entry-level.

The multiple types of owners who either own or have owned Hyundai cars past and present that can now purchase a 30 grand entry-level luxury sports sedan may not exactly consider the Hyundai Genesis production car. Even people who never owned or sat in a Hyundai will less likely yearn for the upcoming flagship. Sure long past is the questionable build quality as it slowly gone out the window but even today consumers will still likely question Hyundai's fit and finish in most of its cars. Hyundai has made huge strides in improving their engineering and manufacturing techniques but once a stigma looms around a company it will hard to appear remotely desirable especially considering most of the cars it has ever sold from the very beginning were not to die for. Hyundai ranked 3rd beating long time rival Toyota in the 2006 J.D. Power and Associates overall brand ranking; behind Porsche and Lexus. This is a strong indication of Hyundai's commitment to strengthening their cars although this tidbit is ofteny overlooked.

In recent years BMW and Mercedes-Benz has been on a mission to gain back into categories of fit and finish where as Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura have flourished. Mercedes-Benz and BMW started deleting electronic gizmos as some devices were glitchy and began staining each brands desirability. Even though the acknowledgment of each brands shortcomings, many of the cars are sold consistently. It probably comes down to the long-term affect both manufacturers have been able to carry throughout time. The name of a brand will provide images of wealth and luxury such as Rolls Royce, Bentley, and Aston Martin. Even though in the 90s none of these manufacturers experienced much growth until the released some awesome products like the Phantom, Continental GT, and V8 Vantage that have this timeless, svelte, and strong design language, which harks to each brands immense past has helped produce healthy residuals. These are very evocative names. Just saying these names and many others like it provides a sensation of glamour, appeal, and radiance. Aston Martin. Jaguar. Ferrari. Porsche. Mercedes-Benz. Then say Hyundai. You get an image of an aging high mileage Accent on some poor sod's driveway.

Nice post there. I think maybe Hyundai (if they think they are really ready) should do what Toyota, Nissan, and Honda did and create a separate division for their upper end vehicles. I still remember people say they wouldn't pay $30K for an LS 400 (The Lexus flagship at the time). Our family bought an Lexus Coupe and it turned out to be the best car we've ever owned. There have been voices out there who griped that the GTR should have been an Infiniti because you don't want to walk in the same lot where Versas are sold. I don't think Hyundai has enough upper end models yet (I'd say at least three) but I'm glad the Hyundai Excel ($4,995 in 1986) is gone now so at least all of the other Hyundais on the lot cost more than 10K (I think).

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