SECTION 2 THE HYUNDAI STORY
5
SECTION 2
HYUNDAI — AN OVERVIEW
Hyundai vehicles provide customers a high level of content
and performance at an affordable price and demonstrate
Hyundai’s emergence as an auto manufacturer whose prod-
ucts compete successfully in technology, quality, styling and
refinement with automobiles from around the world.
Hyundai sold its first car, a subcompact model, in the U.S. in
1986. At the time, few Americans had ever heard of Hyundai
or its products. Since that time, Hyundai has expanded and
upgraded its product line in the U.S. and has gained valuable
experience in the competitive U.S. automobile market. Hyun-
dai now markets a full line of vehicles from subcompacts to
luxurious sedans.
HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
The Hyundai Group was founded in 1947 as Hyundai Engi-
neering and Construction Co. by Ju-Yung Chung. Hyundai
Motor Co., established in 1967, is the auto sales leader in the
Korean domestic market and exports vehicles to 190 coun-
tries worldwide.
Hyundai Motor Co. (“HMC”) operates the world’s largest inte-
grated automobile manufacturing facility in Ulsan, on Korea’s
southeast coast. In 1996 Hyundai opened the Namyang Tech-
nology Research Center, one of eight research centers,
which includes a complete testing facility with a 2.8-mile oval
test track and a sophisticated aeroacoustic wind tunnel. That
same year, HMC began production at its state-of-the-art Asan
Plant, located southwest of Seoul.
A LOOK BACK –
HYUNDAI’S ENTRY INTO THE U.S. MARKET
The timing of Hyundai’s entry into the U.S. market in 1986
was ideal. At that time most automobile manufacturers had
abandoned the entry-level market in favor of high-end, high-
priced vehicles and that left a large void in the market. First-
time car buyers such as college students and young families
were not able to find adequate, value-equipped cars that met
their needs, yet were priced within their economic means.
USA 14MY YF HEV_main(1216) 2013.12.16, 9:42 AM5
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