Hyundai brand reputation

[GrandPrix08]

Which makes me think again, that Genesis was too early to hit US market. As I've been saying many many times. They should have done everything ready, including the dealer education/training and other BEFORE they even think about bringing such a car into North America. If the dealers sell Genesis using the same tactic as they do with their Accents, Elantras, what difference does it make to make the ambitious new product Genesis as the image changer? They should have done some research of how the Hyundai dealers treat the customers before bringing in the Genesis, and they shouldn't have been yelling 'UNDER 30K' from the beginning if they didn't know it will work, raising the price at the last minute is like lying to the potential customers who had their mind set for their very first, near luxury car that starts well UNDER 30K that undercuts even the cheapest Japanese luxury cars.

I mean, they should have known better about their dealers in US and I strongly believe they should have spent those needed money and set up a new brand to sell these Genesis.Though it will cost them a lot of money and time to really get them noticed, but if they really wanted the car to be a success, they should have gone that route instead.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Perhaps we should consider the other side of the coin.. This isn't the best Hyundai can do. That's what they're leaving for the luxury brand. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Genesis is here to show people that Hyundai doesn't build Excels and Scoupes anymore.

The Genesis campaign hasn't even begun yet - and this TINY, TINY, TINY corner of the planet (genesisowners.com) has already found seven people who own the vehicle. This is going to become a very, very busy place once the ads start appearing on television and the cars start appearing on the road..

 

[Simonwpb]

All great comments! It will be most interesting to see how this plays out, my own investment in said vehicle notwithstanding.

 

[1985Hyundai]

Its funny, I agree with many of your guys points. Hyundai is just second guessed or looked down upon because of the name. The older hyundai's were peice of junks. They were really really crappy. Its 2008 and Hyundai cars are so much better. Its funny how people dont really look down upon LG and Samsung phones and they are too made in S.Korea.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Its funny, I agree with many of your guys points. Hyundai is just second guessed or looked down upon because of the name. The older hyundai's were peice of junks. They were really really crappy. Its 2008 and Hyundai cars are so much better. Its funny how people dont really look down upon LG and Samsung phones and they are too made in S.Korea.

I don't know much about LG and Samsung but I'm guessing they never had bad products.. That's probably why people don't consider them cheap or see them negatively in any light..

 

[Simonwpb]

Reputation... I guess you only get one chance to make a good first impression!

However most Americans have had no experience with Hyundai anyway. Besides the wise-cracks about reliability I think a lot of it has to do with the style of the older models and the perception is was a cheap rice-burner.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Toyota was cheap once too - and now everybody buys them. Toyota knows this. The same thing is going to happen with Hyundai. Eventually, a big chunk of Toyota sales will go to Hyundai (and eventually, China)...

 

[Simonwpb]

Eventually, a big chunk of Toyota sales will go to Hyundai (and eventually, China)...

I keep telling my kids to learn Mandarin but they won't go for it.

Global production for everything is shifting to China, even Korean plants because of the lower cost of manufacturing. Plus the yen does not have the exchange rate problems of the won.

 

[1985Hyundai]

I don't know much about LG and Samsung but I'm guessing they never had bad products.. That's probably why people don't consider them cheap or see them negatively in any light..

There have been some cheap LG phones.. like the chocolate. I hated it, it was so slow and it just sucked. There are some good LG phones too like the voyager which is sorta competing with the iphone? I myself have an iphone and i prefer it to the voyager but the voyager offers a touch screen to verizon customers so i guess its a good alternative. Another example of Korean made products by LG and Samsung are plasma and lcd tv's. Samsung tv's are cream of the crop. Its right up there with the SONY's.

 

[GenFan]

I don't know squat about electronics but when I was looking at camcorders for my wife I noticed that no one had anything good to say about Samsung.

I have a LG washer and dryer but didn't know LG was Korean brand.

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[Sal Collaziano]

I'm not sure which type of Chinese I want to learn - but as soon as I find some spare time - I will start...

With a name like LG, it's hard to tell where it comes from. Maybe that was the plan. There are still people who don't know that Lexus is made by Toyota.

 

[1985Hyundai]

I don't know squat about electronics but when I was looking at camcorders for my wife I noticed that no one had anything good to say about Samsung.

I have a LG washer and dryer but didn't know LG was Korean brand.

How do you like your LG washer? LG formerly was known as GOLDSTAR but not anymore in the states. LG makes washers and refridges too.. Next time your at bestbuy go check them out. They have some really nice ones. Samsung makes good computer ram too if i remember correctly, i think they might be the biggest? not 100 percent sure about that tho.

 

[Simonwpb]

Another example of Korean made products by LG and Samsung are plasma and lcd tv's. Samsung tv's are cream of the crop. Its right up there with the SONY's.

I used to buy everything Sony. Now most of my TV's are Samsung. Samsung is now the #1 flat panel TV in the world.
In cell phones it is
#1. Nokia
#2. Samsung
#3. Motorola
#4. LG

LG will probably pass Moto for #3 handset in 2008.

The reason I think is not necessarily quality, but a combination of lower price and heavy investments in R&D that competitors have failed to match.

 

[jwaters943]

I have a Samsung DLP t.v. and Bluray player that I love. I have an LG TROMM washer/dryer set that works VERY well (quiet and energy efficient). I've had 3 LG cell phones I've never had any trouble with, and I've had 3 separate pair of Kumho tires that were all great (and cheap!). There are TONS of good products coming out of South Korea lately.

On a sidenote, this could/should be a separate topic/discussion.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

this could/should be a separate topic/discussion.

Indeed. We're all guilty of going off-topic here - including me. Let's keep this discussion about Hyundai and create a separate one (if need be) for LG and Samsung.

Thank you!

Now back to our previously schedule Hyundai brand name talk.

 

[1985Hyundai]

My apologies. Im the one who brought the other Korean brands up.

Going back to Hyundai brand name =)

 

[GenFan]

All this Korean stuff sounds so good, maybe I should get a Korean girlfriend!

 

[jwaters943]

LOL! The day after getting my Genesis I had Korean BBQ to celebrate.

 

[GrandPrix08]

Actually, my experience with the LG(Lucky Goldstar) cell-phone short lived. When I dropped it accidentally, the little black and white screen got damaged and all blurred out, forcing me to get a new one. I am using a Samsung now which is doing great. I dropped it as well.... acidentally, well 3 or 4 times..... Yeah, Yeah, I am just not that careful with the pocket electronics, but unlike LG, it is still doing great.

Well, there were times that Korean electronics were garbages as well. Well, even though it was long time ago. I remember, back in the mid 80's, when my family moved to US, Daewoo electronics, were pretty much a synonym for a bad product that just don't last with bunch of problems. When it comes to cars, Hyundai was first exporting their excels, and they broke down easy, and were so bad, that earned the current(well a few years back) status as the cheaper, alternative to the big boys, though that's an improvement from 'cheap, appliance cars that break down easy and don't last' of the 80s.

But yeah, times are changing rapidly, and now, it seems the Chinese are preparing to enter the US market soon. Right now, their products sucks, like the ones that was made in Taiwan in the 80s that just didn't last long as was cheap, cheap, cheap, though, now, Taiwan made stuffs are hard to find, and if you do find it, they are the quality products that will live with you for a long time. I guess Chinese will probably catch up eventually, like the Koreans did to the Japanese, so I think it will get interesting.

Yeah, well, back to Genesis. I had to join the off-topic party once. I was at work all day so....

 

[Simonwpb]

Just avoid the kimchi...

My question to the relevance of other Korean brands to Hyundai was why in cars their US reputation is sometimes the opposite to what I think it is for many of the other fine Korean products out there. After all, we all seem to have positive impressions of LG and Samsung goods.

If you think Hyundai's name has a bad connotation, how about if the Genesis was made by Daewoo ??