Hyundai projects new image as elegant sedan maker
AFP, Seoul
Six years ago, US late-night talk show host Jay Leno compared Hyundai cars to luge sleds, saying you had to push to get them going and they only went downhill. At the time the wheels were coming off the Korean carmaker's drive to break into the US market and take on top US, European and Japanese auto manufacturers. The Leno jibe and a slump in sales triggered an ambitious rethink at Hyundai Motor headquarters in Seoul. A program to improve quality was launched and five billion dollars earmarked in 1999 for developing new models. The push to project its image as a maker of elegant and reliable sedans is now paying off. Hyundai won the 2003 Global Automotive Shareholder Value Award presented by PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Automotive News.
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