With gas prices at $1.20 per gallon, financing topping 10 percent APR and airbags emerging as the latest safety technology, the auto industry looked much different 25 years ago when Hyundai brought its car to the United States. Today, with a full line-up of award-winning products, Hyundai Motor America celebrated its 25th anniversary in the U.S. on February 20th, focused on the new challenges and exciting opportunities that the next 25 years will bring.
Since its start in 1986 with the humble Excel, Hyundai has grown into a full-line producer of cars and crossovers, from Accent to Equus, from Tucson to Veracruz. Since the company’s arrival, Americans have put 6,608,208 Hyundai vehicles in their driveways, with more than 4,350,000 still on the road today. In 2010, sales topped 538,000, making Hyundai the sixth best-selling brand in the country, behind only Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, and Chevrolet. U.S. production capacity has grown to over 400,000 units of Sonata, Elantra and Santa Fe models produced in modern assembly plants in Alabama and Georgia. Hyundai engines and transmissions are produced here, too. Direct U.S. employment totals more than 4,000, with total employment including suppliers and dealers of over 45,000. Hyundai’s commitment to the U.S. market includes engineering, design, testing, production, sales, and marketing. In all, Hyundai’s investments in the U.S. total $1.7 billion.
Hyundai’s heritage is built on earning the trust of its owners. Every Hyundai sold since the 1999 model year comes with what remains the industry’s best warranty – a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, and a 5-year, 60,000-mile vehicle warranty. Over the years, Hyundai has partnered with its owners in deeper ways, through good and bad times, and now offers a comprehensive suite of programs under the Hyundai Assurance banner that includes America’s Best Warranty, five years of unlimited mileage roadside assistance, and the innovative job-loss protection program.
As Hyundai grows, so do its aspirations. Last year, Hyundai established the most aggressive fuel economy goal in the industry, committing to a 50 miles-per-gallon-plus fleet average by 2025. This strategy, which falls under the banner “BlueDrive,” includes the aggressive implementation of a range of new, affordable technologies such as direct injection, turbocharging, internally-developed transmissions, and lightweighting. In parallel, Hyundai’s engineering teams are developing new fuel cell and battery solutions to help provide alternative solutions beyond the internal combustion engine.
Hyundai’s pursuits are not limited to the automobile. Hyundai Hope on Wheels is the united effort of Hyundai Motor America and its more than 800 dealers across the U.S. to help children fight cancer. We are dedicated to raising awareness about childhood cancer, celebrating the hope of the brave children battling the disease and finding a cure through our support of the best pediatric cancer researchers in the country. A portion of every Hyundai sold goes directly to this fight and more than $23 million have been donated since 1998.
“As far as we’ve come since 1986, we still feel we’re in the early stages of connecting the Hyundai brand to the U.S. consumer,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. “We’ve always challenged convention – from our powertrain strategies, to our consumer partnership programs, to our unique Genesis and Equus retail approach. It’s authentically Hyundai to question the status quo and pursue our own vision of how things should be in order to best serve our customers. This willingness to challenge convention will continue to guide us these next 25 years.”
Hyundai’s model lineup now offers 12 distinct cars and crossovers – with more on the way. Hyundai’s immediate future includes three exciting new models arriving at showrooms thorough summer. The Veloster, a unique 3-door 40-mpg sporty coupe featuring Hyundai’s Blue Link telematics solution, will join all-new 4-door and 5-door versions of the Accent, which will also deliver 40 mpg. Hyundai’s award-winning Genesis gets a through face-lift and new engines and transmissions, with the performance-focused Genesis R-Spec and its all-new 429-horsepower Tau 5.0L V8 engine making its first appearance.
Hyundai’s anniversary present still awaits; a state-of-the-art headquarters based in Fountain Valley, Calif. is slated for completion in late 2012. The new campus doubles the size and capacity of the current building, giving Hyundai and its employees an environment conducive to growth as it prepares to help write the next chapter of a great American success story.
http://www.hyundainews.com
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
HYUNDAI SONATA NAMED A BEST CAR FOR COMMUTERS BY FORBES
The 2011 Hyundai Sonata , acclaimed for it’s modern approach to the traditional midsize sedan segment, made the Forbes list of this year’s Best Cars for Commuters. Forbes recognizes Sonata’s fuel efficiency, reliability and space to get drivers through daily commutes with ease.
“More than 42 million Americans spend at least 30 minutes in the car on their morning commutes. Seven million spend over an hour,” said Forbes auto reporter, Hannah Elliot. “For that kind of time spent in traffic, it pays to have a reliable car: something spacious enough for comfort, small enough to get good gas mileage and durable enough to withstand the occasional fender-bender. This year mid-size sedans like the $19,395 Hyundai Sonata are best for surviving the slog.”
“The 2011 Sonata is a smart buy for commuters looking for class-leading comfort, a large interior and advanced standard safety technologies,” said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. “Couple that with a four-cylinder engine producing impressive fuel economy with the power of a larger V6, and the Sonata is the perfect mid-size sedan choice for drivers commuting to work.”
To compile the list, Forbes started with new vehicles listed as Consumer Reports “Recommended Picks” for 2011. “Recommended Picks” are models that have average or better predicted reliability and that meet Consumer Reports' safety standards and have performed well in accelerating, braking, handling, comfort and other user-oriented tests. Of these vehicles, the 11 with the best combination of highway fuel efficiency, legroom and headroom made the list. For more information about the Best Cars for Commuters from Forbes, visit http://www.forbes.com/2011/02/08/best-cars-for-commuters-business-autos.html.
www.hyundainews.com
“More than 42 million Americans spend at least 30 minutes in the car on their morning commutes. Seven million spend over an hour,” said Forbes auto reporter, Hannah Elliot. “For that kind of time spent in traffic, it pays to have a reliable car: something spacious enough for comfort, small enough to get good gas mileage and durable enough to withstand the occasional fender-bender. This year mid-size sedans like the $19,395 Hyundai Sonata are best for surviving the slog.”
“The 2011 Sonata is a smart buy for commuters looking for class-leading comfort, a large interior and advanced standard safety technologies,” said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. “Couple that with a four-cylinder engine producing impressive fuel economy with the power of a larger V6, and the Sonata is the perfect mid-size sedan choice for drivers commuting to work.”
To compile the list, Forbes started with new vehicles listed as Consumer Reports “Recommended Picks” for 2011. “Recommended Picks” are models that have average or better predicted reliability and that meet Consumer Reports' safety standards and have performed well in accelerating, braking, handling, comfort and other user-oriented tests. Of these vehicles, the 11 with the best combination of highway fuel efficiency, legroom and headroom made the list. For more information about the Best Cars for Commuters from Forbes, visit http://www.forbes.com/2011/02/08/best-cars-for-commuters-business-autos.html.
www.hyundainews.com
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Hyundai Motor America will lift the veil on one of the longest standing conspiracies in the auto industry during Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, Feb. 6. Hyundai contends that consumers have been conditioned to purchase boring compact cars for practicality and reliability, and accept uninspired design, cramped interiors, and limited innovation, for far too long. Marketing has systemically lowered expectations in the compact car segment, with consumers rewarding the industry by continuing to buy appliance-like clones. Hyundai urges consumers to “Snap Out of It,” with a two-part group therapy session beginning in the game’s first quarter with a spot called “Hypnotized,” followed by a healing session in Q3 with an ad called “Deprogramming.” Both offer the all-new 2011 Elantra as treatment for the malaise afflicting the long-suffering compact car shopper.
Hyundai marks its fourth consecutive year as a Super Bowl advertiser by deprogramming 100 million Americans tuned in to watch the game. Both Elantra spots, themed “Snap Out of It,” stem from the same campaign that originated during the AFC Championship Game, but offer two distinct interpretations.
“Hypnotized” features everyday driving imagery interlaced with the rhythmic staccato placement of title cards asking: “Have we been hypnotized to believe compact cars are good enough?” The spot questions the idea that compact cars are as good as they can be, and suggests consumers in turn question how that belief has become so ingrained in our culture. Long-held beliefs softened by the first spot are then confronted directly with the second, called “Deprogramming,” which seeks to hypnotize 100 million viewers simultaneously through a kaleidoscope of graphics featuring compact car stereotypes paired with a soothing voiceover declaring, among other things, “compact cars can be more.” Once the viewer is fully entranced, the voice calmly brings them back to reality saying, “Snap out of it, man.” After the Elantra reveal, look for Hyundai to play further off viewers lulled into therapeutic susceptibility with a light-hearted nod to New Age empowerment.
“We love the Super Bowl’s ability to transform over 100 million Americans into advertising aficionados, so we went with a playful theme that ties a marketing-driven conspiracy theory to our fresh take on the compact car segment, the 40-mpg Elantra,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. “Building from the first two Elantra ads in the AFC Championship Game, and 10 viral spots online right now, the Super Bowl shifts the campaign into top gear with what may be the biggest group therapy hypnosis session ever attempted.”
Hyundai will round out its Super Bowl appearance with a third spot starring the 2011 Sonata Hybrid which highlights Hyundai’s commitment to innovation. The ad, titled “Anachronistic City,” shows a variety of early-generation devices – all innovative in their time –to convey that, while Sonata is not the first hybrid to the market, it is a sophisticated evolution of hybrid technology and a smart challenger of conventional, early-generation hybrids. The Sonata Hybrid spot will run in the fourth quarter.
All three Super Bowl commercials feature Hyundai’s 2011 “New Thinking, New Possibilities” brand vision. Innocean Worldwide Americas, Hyundai’s agency of record, is responsible for all creative. To view Hyundai’s Super Bowl ads, please visit, www.hyundainews.com/Media_Kits/Video_Clips/.
The 2011 Elantra sets the bar in the compact sedan category offering modern design, outstanding fuel economy, loads of comfort and convenience features at a low starting price of $14,830. Unique in the compact car segment, every 2011 Elantra sedan has a 40-mpg highway fuel economy rating, with no extra-cost fuel economy packages required.
Sonata Hybrid delivers a segment-leading 40-mpg highway fuel economy rating, higher than any other mid-size sedan, hybrid or non-hybrid. In city driving, Sonata Hybrid delivers 35 mpg, yielding a 37 mpg combined city/highway rating from the EPA. Sonata Hybrid’s fuel economy is powered by the industry’s first application of third-generation lithium polymer batteries which are more space efficient, lighter weight and offer higher energy density than existing nickel-metal hydride and pending lithium-ion applications.
www.hyundainews.com
Hyundai marks its fourth consecutive year as a Super Bowl advertiser by deprogramming 100 million Americans tuned in to watch the game. Both Elantra spots, themed “Snap Out of It,” stem from the same campaign that originated during the AFC Championship Game, but offer two distinct interpretations.
“Hypnotized” features everyday driving imagery interlaced with the rhythmic staccato placement of title cards asking: “Have we been hypnotized to believe compact cars are good enough?” The spot questions the idea that compact cars are as good as they can be, and suggests consumers in turn question how that belief has become so ingrained in our culture. Long-held beliefs softened by the first spot are then confronted directly with the second, called “Deprogramming,” which seeks to hypnotize 100 million viewers simultaneously through a kaleidoscope of graphics featuring compact car stereotypes paired with a soothing voiceover declaring, among other things, “compact cars can be more.” Once the viewer is fully entranced, the voice calmly brings them back to reality saying, “Snap out of it, man.” After the Elantra reveal, look for Hyundai to play further off viewers lulled into therapeutic susceptibility with a light-hearted nod to New Age empowerment.
“We love the Super Bowl’s ability to transform over 100 million Americans into advertising aficionados, so we went with a playful theme that ties a marketing-driven conspiracy theory to our fresh take on the compact car segment, the 40-mpg Elantra,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. “Building from the first two Elantra ads in the AFC Championship Game, and 10 viral spots online right now, the Super Bowl shifts the campaign into top gear with what may be the biggest group therapy hypnosis session ever attempted.”
Hyundai will round out its Super Bowl appearance with a third spot starring the 2011 Sonata Hybrid which highlights Hyundai’s commitment to innovation. The ad, titled “Anachronistic City,” shows a variety of early-generation devices – all innovative in their time –to convey that, while Sonata is not the first hybrid to the market, it is a sophisticated evolution of hybrid technology and a smart challenger of conventional, early-generation hybrids. The Sonata Hybrid spot will run in the fourth quarter.
All three Super Bowl commercials feature Hyundai’s 2011 “New Thinking, New Possibilities” brand vision. Innocean Worldwide Americas, Hyundai’s agency of record, is responsible for all creative. To view Hyundai’s Super Bowl ads, please visit, www.hyundainews.com/Media_Kits/Video_Clips/.
The 2011 Elantra sets the bar in the compact sedan category offering modern design, outstanding fuel economy, loads of comfort and convenience features at a low starting price of $14,830. Unique in the compact car segment, every 2011 Elantra sedan has a 40-mpg highway fuel economy rating, with no extra-cost fuel economy packages required.
Sonata Hybrid delivers a segment-leading 40-mpg highway fuel economy rating, higher than any other mid-size sedan, hybrid or non-hybrid. In city driving, Sonata Hybrid delivers 35 mpg, yielding a 37 mpg combined city/highway rating from the EPA. Sonata Hybrid’s fuel economy is powered by the industry’s first application of third-generation lithium polymer batteries which are more space efficient, lighter weight and offer higher energy density than existing nickel-metal hydride and pending lithium-ion applications.
www.hyundainews.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)