The American Market
Year Of The Hyundai
06.23.09, 04:30 PM EDT
When the latest J.D. Power and Associates quality survey came out Monday, the big news was Hyundai"s trouncing of quality stalwarts Honda and Toyota.
The Korea-based automaker was the highest-ranked non-premium nameplate in the study, beating such notables as Mercedes-Benz, Ford Motor ( F - news - people ), Honda ( HMC - news - people ) and Toyota ( TM - news - people ). It received the fourth-highest rank overall behind Lexus, Porsche ( PSEPF.PK - news - people ) and Cadillac.
Surprised? John Krafcik isn"t. The president and chief executive of the South Korea-based automaker"s U.S. unit, he says Hyundai"s top rank simply reflects what he"s known for the past few years. "Our cars research really well ... and when you finally get in the car and drive it, it stands up to that research."In Pictures: The Highest-Quality Cars
With the American auto industry in shambles, Hyundai has stood out as one of the few automakers (Audi and Subaru would join it) to remain stable as of late. Arch-rivals Toyota and Honda report faltering sales for the year so far (down 39% and 34%, respectively), but Hyundai sales are down just 7.9% year-to-date. Its market share has increased too, reaching 4.2% in the first five months of this year, up from 2.9% during the same period in 2008, according to Autodata, a New Jersey-based market research firm.
Hyundai executives have said they aim to boost U.S. market share to 5% by the end of the year. Japan"s Big Three--Toyota, Honda and Nissan ( NSANY - news - people )--stand to lose the most if they make good on that goal. Lexus, down 47% for the year to date, is another big target. "They"ve extended their portfolio, done clever marketing, added fillers, gone up-market, gone down-market, gone left-market and gone right-market," says Lincoln Merrihew, senior vice president at research firm TNS.
And they"ve made better cars. Hyundai was one of the big movers on the survey, up from its 13th-place rank last year. Its score of 95 PP100 means Hyundai owners reported 95 problems per 100 vehicles, down from 114 last year. The survey covers problems reported in the first 90 days of ownership for more than 80,000 new-vehicle purchases nationwide.
ho ho ho.........