It might be difficult to believe, but Hyundai was on a break the last few years. And by break, we mean that they’d let off of the accelerator and downshifted from 6th to 4th gear.
Hyundai’s presence on the North American and global markets grew manifold in a very short period of time as sales and production rocketed 74% to 4.06 million vehicles in 2011 from 2.34 million in 2005. In the same time period, production capacity shot up 25%.
They were on fire, but the flame dwindled somewhat when their benchmark competitor, Toyota, took it in the chin in 2010 amidst their unintended acceleration issues. Toyota’s sudden “weakness” made those in power at Hyundai realize that growth for the sake of growth was no longer the right path. Quality, reliability as well as value were far too important to overlook.
Moving forward, Hyundai is already in the process of reinventing itself, increasing its product portfolio and multiplying its number of sub-brands. We already know of Genesis, the luxury arm of the company. In the near future, they intend to launch a full range of green cars, hybrids, EVs and fuel cell vehicles to go along with new line of performance vehicles.
To most of us, Hyundai never “left” but be warned, they’re back!
