Posted on 01/11/2006 5:06:44 AM PST by CarrotAndStick
Toyota Motor Corp, one of the world's most successful automakers, claims to be afraid of a lot of things: complacency, competition, and success itself.
But in the United States, rival Hyundai Motor Co may well be at the top of Toyota's list.
"We're worried about them," Yukitoshi Funo, chairman of Toyota Motor Sales USA, told reporters in Detroit this week.
"Our main competitors here are essentially Honda Motor Co Ltd, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Hyundai, but Hyundai is the one we are very carefully watching," he said on the sidelines of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
South Korea's top automaker, until recently a target of jokes about broken-down parts, has dramatically raised its profile on the world stage with a benchmark study by research firm JD Power showing an improvement in quality to match the best Japanese brands.
Hyundai now sells far more cars than Volkswagen AG, Mazda Motor Corp and Subaru in the US.
It expects sales to rise more than 10 per cent this year to over 500,000 units, in an overall market that it reckons will shrink.
In 2005, Hyundai's sales fell 7.7 per cent to 418,615 units, giving it a market share of 2.5 per cent.
"The quality story is resonating," Bob Cosmai, Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Motor America, said at the Detroit show.
"We're broadening the depth of our product line, and it's a great value story. When I joined the company at the end of 1990 we sold 90,000 cars, so we're making our presence really known."
Unveiling the remodelled Santa Fe sport utility vehicle at the show, Cosmai said its popular model would be priced "thousands of dollars" below a comparably equipped Toyota Highlander with six airbags, electronic stability control and other advanced safety features.
As Cosmai admits, Hyundai's path to success has been modelled closely on Toyota's strategy of striving for top quality and competitive prices, and appealing to a broad range of customers with wide-ranging cars.
That's what worries Toyota most.
"Honda and Nissan are also formidable rivals, but they have a distinct business approach and profile from us," Toyota's Funo said. "Hyundai, meanwhile, is essentially doing what we're doing."
But Funo added that Toyota would not and could not compete with Hyundai on prices, and would instead focus on building its brand and value.
"Our costs aren't as low as Hyundai's. We don't want to compete on their terms," he said.
His Hyundai counterpart, meanwhile, seemed to be adopting Toyota's characteristic modesty when asked how the South Korean company stacked up.
"I'm not sure anyone's a big threat to Toyota right now," Cosmai said.
"They're a very successful company," he said, adding that Hyundai benchmarked much of its processes and design characteristics around Toyota. "We have a long way to go."
I'm in sales and drive 35k a year. Bought a 2004 Sonata and it has been a great car. Have 50K miles on it now and only had one minor issue which the dealer took care of at N/C.
Earlier this week I was at the dealership for routine service and saw Hyundi's new model the "Azera". I was amazed at the interior. First Class with many features. Price was getting up there but they did a great job on the design. I believe they will sell many of these and may consider for my next car. I thought of Toyota after looking at this car and believe Toyota will loose sales to Hyundi.
They all should keep a good eye on the rear view mirror; the chinese are coming! Wal-Mart's first new car franchise?
I drive a 2004 Santa Fe. It's a quality vehicle with good gas mileage for a SUV.
What are the Chinease letters for YUGO????
I helped a gal by an Elantra GT a couple of years ago. While, for me, it's a bit short on hp, it's well made, gets 33+mpg on the highway, comes with every option you'd want and has as much cargo room as most SUVs. A heck of a buy for $15K.
I drove a rented Elentra in DC a couple of years ago--that's what got me looking at Hyundai's in the first place. Had I not gone the SUV route, I might have very well bought an Elantra.
You can park them with the doors open and the engine running, and no one will steal them.
Ugh - I can't imagine ever considering a Geeley...
Right now the ONLY quality cars built in China are Buicks, Fords, Volkswagens,.... (you get the picture)
Granted, the styling is a little ... different. But I like the xB and the TC is dynamite. However, the xA makes me wonder what they were thinking.
The thing is, if 50% of the people think a car is beautiful and 20% hate it, it will wind up on top of an ugly car list.
What I like about the xB is that it is comfortable and easy to get into and out of. It holds a lot of stuff, runs efficiently, and is less than 160 inches long. I have 320 inches from the front of my house to the sidewalk, so I bought two, and they both fit in the driveway!
I owned four different 4 cylinder Toyotas between 1980 and 1995. Each and every one had the same problem with the cooling system, where a valve buried in the engine would stick closed and then open causing the engine to swing between hot and cold for no reason. Toyota would just give me a "Yeah, they do that" when I told them about the gauge swinging from cold to hot and back again.
"Hyundai, bloody Hyundai
Hyundai, bloody Hyundai
How long
How long must I sing this song?"
The early Santa Fe V6s had a problem where the aluminum engines would sieze up at while running at high RPM. They would literally tear themselves apart while the car was cruising down the highway. This would destroy the engine, and tranny, but hopefully the driver would keep things under control.
Does Hyundai make a minivan? I'm in the market and was leaning toward an Odyssey over a Sienna. Does Hyundai still have a 7/100,000 warranty?
I hear you. Toyota hasn't done much to improve its Camry. I have a Land Cruiser and the maintenance just kills me.
I have an 02 Accent, and it is my 2nd Huyndai - the first (an 00 Accent) was decimated (by me) in an accident. I was so impressed with how the car handled it, (I truly thought they were still pieces of junk but I couldn't afford much when I was 18), so I bought another one.
Yeah--the newer Santa Fe's are much better.
I just got out of a 9 month relationship with a 100% Korean (not Korean-American, but Korean-Korean living in the USA). I'M GLAD IT IS OVER.
Look at the Kia Sedona. Hyundai owns Kia. Same 10year/100,000mile warranty. Kia is to Hyundai as Pontiac is to GM.
I'm repeating myself. But, I have owned a Kia Sorrento for over two years and it's been a very good car/SUV. It's my wife's car and we've liked it so much I bought myself a new one several months ago (different color).
The Kia Sedona has very high safty ratings.
Good one!
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