NYTimes article on Hyundai/Kia sales

[YEH]

Many smaller automakers are gaining a bigger share of the market, most notably Hyundai and Kia.

Together, the two Korean brands hold 7.3 percent of the American market, the same as Nissan, which ranks sixth in American sales, behind G.M., Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chrysler. Last year, Hyundai and Kia had 5 percent of the market.

Hyundai, in particular, has struck a nerve with its Hyundai Assurance plan, which allows buyers who finance their vehicles to return them if they lose their jobs. Other auto companies have adopted variations on the plan.

Hyundai has also received an image boost from its luxury Genesis model, which was named the North American car of the year at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.

Hyundai’s growth has come from winning over customers like Lee Figliuolo, a retired information technology executive in Palm Coast, Fla., who traded his Toyota Solara last month for a Genesis.

He has owned four Cadillacs but passed on buying a Cadillac CTS, in part because he was concerned, at the time, about General Motors’ looming bankruptcy filing.

“A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have bought a Hyundai,” Mr. Figliuolo said. But he was impressed by a friend’s Hyundai Veracruz, a crossover vehicle, and decided to check out the Genesis.

“I drove it and absolutely loved it,” he said. “I’m a stickler for fit and finish, and this was the best I had ever driven.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/business/22auto.html?hp

W/ regard to the amount of incentives, GM and Chrysler have been spending more on incentives than Hyundai - which has been cutting back (not sure about Kia, but I would think think they are using incentives to get rid of old inventory to make room for the Soul, Forte, Forte Koup and all the other new models in the pipeline).

One thing about the NYTimes I find odd, while pretty much all of the other major American newspapers (the WaPo, Tribune, LATimes, BostonGlobe, Dallas MN, USA Today, etc.) have reviewed the Genesis sedan, the NYTimes has yet to do so even tho they have already reviewed the new E Class.