speedflex

No one ever said they were. Production and design glitches are part and parcel of new model introductions. They are to be expected. But now with such media scrutiny on every single defect a car has, Hyundai is making sure this doesn't snowball into a major snafu which the media can feed on.

Nevertheless, the idea that Hyundai's aggressive growth is resulting in some sort of bad karma is kind of absurd.

SLegacy99

And then it catches on fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TRDFantasy

It's not their aggressive growth by itself; it's the extremely arrogant and aggressive attitude Hyundai has towards the market; they way they conduct themselves.

madoka

Can you give examples of this "extremely arrogant" attitude Hyundai has towards the market?

TRDFantasy

Here is a GREAT article about Hyundai and their arrogance:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...5048450463.htm

They are building a new headquarters in South Korea which is claimed to be a "command center" bigger than CNN's newsroom. It's supposed to have tons of video screens and live camera footage of shipyards where their cars are loaded, assembly plants, and other Hyundai operations.

What's really amazing is that the headquarters is a skyscraper! Hyundai is building an entire skyscraper to be used as a headquarters, and it's going to be one of the tallest buildings in South Korea at 110 stories.

There is this CL thread talking about the skyscraper:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...percity-2.html

An automaker building their own massive skyscraper; if that's not arrogance, I don't know what is.

There are other things, such as Hyundai's insistence on continually comparing their mainstream mass-market vehicles to luxury vehicles.

Hyundai also seems to be ignoring/rejecting previous generations of their vehicles, and that is not good for customer loyalty.

The new Sonata is a huge change from the previous-gen Sonata, so much so that they almost look like two completely different vehicles, not part of the same model line. Making such radical changes prevents tradition from being formed, and for solid customer loyalty to form and be maintained long-term.

madoka

Building a skyscraper = arrogrance?

Well, I would agree with you then that you don't know what arrogance is.

Here are some real examples of arrogance from a car company from a recent Yahoo article on the hubris of Toyota:

As we're learning, Toyota started to feel it didn't have to abide by the same rules as everybody else. It's still not clear what exact problems may have caused episodes of "unintended acceleration" in some of the carmaker's most popular models, but it's obvious that Toyota refused to acknowledge problems and resisted costly recalls until there was virtually no choice. Toyota missed warning signs, too: consumer complaints dating back years, government investigations, and gradual declines in Toyota's quality ratings. Toyota dismissed thousands of customers who complained about ruinous sludge buildup in their engines and other problems, convinced that it knew better and that its famed engineering was above reproach.

TRDFantasy

Yes, I think an automaker building a skyscraper is very arrogant. An automaker has no need for a skyscraper; this is nothing more than showing off and rubbing it in the competition's faces. What does a skyscraper mainly accomplish? First and foremost it draws attention.

Can you name me any other automaker that has built a skyscraper before? I will answer that for you, there are none. Automakers and skyscrapers have nothing to do with each other. What's next, is Hyundai going to build a supermarket?

I think there are far better things Hyundai can spend that money on; like increasing their R&D budget, or things like improving their dealerships.

Did you read that Businessweek article? Interesting you have no comments on that.

Here is a great quote from it:

Now THAT is definitely what one would call arrogant. Rarely listening to the advice of others, and not tolerating disagreement, sure sounds like textbook arrogance to me.

TRDFantasy

My points about tradition and customer loyalty still stand.

Sens4Miles

TRDFantasy

I didn't realize the Renaissance Center was considered a skyscraper, but fair enough.

So Hyundai is imitating GM, great .

Sens4Miles

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building. There is no official definition or height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper. Most cities define the term empirically; even a building of 80 meters (262 feet) may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes above its built environment and changes the overall skyline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyscraper

jruhi4

I do know that Hyundai is notorious for setting unrealistically high market share goals for the U.S. and, if they're not met, the head of the U.S. division is unceremoniously dumped, no excuses accepted, no questions asked and no allowing for external forces such as a tanking economy. That position has been a revolving door for most of the decade. The current guy (John Krafcic) has outlasted his predecessors only because Hyundai has truly been on a roll for the last couple of years.

IS-SV

Variations on that theme have happened before, leaving blood and wreakage on the roads.

Regardless, the Sonatas are getting fixed before such event. IMO it's a wise corporate decision to do the fixes.

tofu_house

iTrader: (2)

TRD, clearly you have no idea what Hyundai corp is as a business entity in Korea.

Hyundai is not simply an automaker in Korea. It is a huge business conglomerate made up of many, MANY different groups. Hyundai Motor Corp is but ONE group.

Here are several more of Hyundai's branches:

* Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt. Ltd.
* Hyundai Asan
* Hyundai Elevator
* Hyundai Logistics
* Hyundai Merchant Marine
* Hyundai Securities
* Hyundai Research Institute
* Hyundai U&I

Let's not forget Hyundai Group, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, Hyundai Department Store Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, and Hyundai Development Group.

Is Hyundai going to build a supermarket? No need... that was done WAY long ago friend.

Arrogance? Hardly.

Doesn't Toyota have a city or something called Toyota World? I forget which. If a skyscraper is a sign of arrogance, what is a whole city?

Point: Hyundai as a company is MUCH BIGGER than just an automotive manufacturer.

LexBob2

I think aggressive vs. arrogant might be a better descriptor of Hyundai. Big difference in (car) business terms.