Korean Job Discussion Forums

[earthbound14]

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/08/autos/2009_car_of_the_year/?postversion=2009011110

The Genesis was named North America's Car of the Year for 2009. The first time a Korean car has been chosen for this award.

Perhaps they are just that much closer to shaking their image as the cheap reliable car that you are embarrassed to drive.

There should also be some hybrids coming out of Korea in the near future.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/05/123_44079.html

Korean cars are starting to look more and more appealing.

[pkang0202]

Hyundai's image shift has been years in the making. Remember in the 70's-80's when Honda's were the cheap pieces of crap people drove?

If you look at the last 10 years, you will see a remarkable shift in Hyundai's company.

[grunden]

what great luck. First of all, nobody is buying new cars, it is a recession, so that was really bad luck.

Second, bribes for a title are the norm here, I am sure they had to do something since the backbone of this land is samsung and hyundai. Life or death situation

[tatu]

[Rory_Calhoun27]

what an insult from CNN of all people. the name of the show is "North American Auto Show"not Detroit Auto Show. The name was changed 10-plus years ago to set Motown's show to a higher standard!

You would think the channel that DOES NOT allow the word "foreign" and "foreigner" to be used by its anchors and reporters would show a bit more class on similar fronts. But you'd be wrong.

Wolf Blitzer COULD maybe use those words..... maybe. If that's really his name...

[asylum seeker]

[grunden]

[Hyeon Een]

I'm curious as to how this idea of Hyundai being a piece of crap came about.

I guess it came about in the US about 10 or 15 years ago when they were cheap and low quality, which is no longer the case. It was a good idea to spread the idea that they were cheap pieces of crap amongst the American market place, and it worked. They're still cheap but they're no longer pieces of crap though.

It seems to be a meme that almost all N.American readers of this board subscribe to. I don't know what to think of it. I'm from Britain and I've simply never had any opinion towards Hyundai cars. I never thought anything of them, either good or bad. Just a big... Zero.

I suspect the respect people have for their brand in N. America has probably been increasingover the last few years. Their massive warranties have obviously helped a ton(ne).

I constantly see posters on this board who make posts which state that Hyundai cars are pieces of crap or some such other nonesense. I suspect that if this board is around in 20 years time they will no longer be saying this. They will probably be lamenting the fact that once upon a time European or American cars used to have some cache and it is sad that now Hyundais/Toyotas/Kias/Nissans/Hondas etc. are the mid-priced cars which are not only good value to purchase, but good value to maintain.

Very interesting.

I love the fact that the country I've chosen to live in is selling cars which are ranked so highly. I strongly suspect that their cars in other market-ranges will achieve the same level of respect from the market and the reviewers as the Genesis has.

When I look at the market at the moment I think that Hyundai are idiots for marketing the Genesis under the Hyundai brand. I think they should have, ala Lexus, launched it under a unique marque. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Hyundai will make their entire brand a quality one under this marque. It seems a tough sell, but they've done well so far if you look at their position now as to compared to 30 years ago.

As a European I understand the fact that the import tariffs and restrictions are beyond ludicrous here in Korea. American cars couldn't ever, on the whole, compete due to the products that they are currently marketing but a lot of European cars could in a car-tariff free world. I look forward to the day that the markets are more truly opened and all kinds of cars can compete. In the Korean market some Euro cars might be able to compete and that will be interesting. Maybe an American brand could even produce a car which would sell here beoyond the Apgujeong rich market.

I think that by the time that the Korean market opens up they will be so entrenched on the world stage that they won't be competing against much except the luxury market on the homestage. And internationally, for regular cars? The Koreans and the Japanese will be dominating.

[madoka]

50 years ago, Cadillac was considered the world standard.

40 years ago, school kids would make fun of cheap products by saying it was made in Japan.

25 years ago, school kids would make fun of cheap products by saying it was made in Korea.

Today, school kids would make fun of cheap products by saying it was made in China.

Dudes that think Korean cars are ALL bad are living in the past, much like adjosshis that are convinced that Cadillacs are the best cars in the world.

Dudes that think Koreans must have bribed their way to Car of the Year titles are just idiots. FYI, Motor Trend also reported that had the GTR not been released this year, the Genesis would have won their Car of the Year title as well.

BTW, in the Genesis forums, the debate of whether Hyundai should have started a new brand to launch the Genesis has been debated to death. Hyundai's main reason was it would cost an exorbitant amount to create a new dealer network. Given what happened to the economy/auto sales, Hyundai's decision was absolutely correct.

[madoka]