Posted on 05/20/2005 6:52:02 PM PDT by Conservative Firster
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As Korean automaker Hyundai invited visitors to tour its first U.S. plant, deliveries for the first U.S.-built Sonatas were arriving at dealerships in the U.S. and Canada.
Hyundai held a lavish grand opening of its new plant here Friday, at which it meshed Korean and U.S. culture. Korean dancers and drummers performed, along with local high school marching bands.
The event drew 4,000 guests, including the nearly 2,000 plant employees, former President George Bush, and other Alabama and U.S. government officials, as well as Hyundai executives, Korean government officials and Korean media.
The Hyundai move takes a page out of the playbook of Toyota, which builds where it sells. It is widely seen as a financial commitment to North America, Hyundai's most important market outside of Korea.
The Alabama plant, which cost $1.1 billion, initially will build the new-generation Sonata. The complex also produces the car's 235-horsepower, 3.3-liter V6 engine.
Bob Cosmai, president of Hyundai Motor America said the plant will build 80,000 Sonatas by year's end. The plant's capacity is 300,000 vehicles per year.
The highly automated, highly flexible plant, which can produce five different models on the same line, will begin production of the replacement for the Santa Fe SUV next year.
Executives confirmed to Inside Line the plant will not build vehicles for Hyundai affiliate Kia. Kia still wants its own U.S. plant.
What this means to you: If buying American is a high priority for you, you can now buy a Hyundai Sonata and eventually a Santa Fe with a clear conscience.
More example on how red states are moving the economy along.
I bought a Sonata last year and I am very pleased with it.
Ack! 4 cyl :(
The Sonata is reportedly a very fine automobile for the price.
The best thing that they could do is not let the uaw into the plant. Don't hire one union thug at all. If they show have them arrested for tresspassing! That way the costs & quality can be controled.
We've seen few problems beyond the occasional broken piece of plastic, but that's common with all cars.
Now that Kia is firmly under Hyundai's production management team I may buy something from them. They have what amounts to the world's newest automobile manufacturing facility.
2000 more non-union auto workers.
This is in addition to Hyundai's existing California design studio/testing center *and* the Michigan engineering center (where they recruit former GM and Ford engineers that want to make good designs and are tired of having them shot down by beancounters).
Thanks to it's titanium stays and gridwork, the passenger compartment stayed intact. He turned off the engine. Opened the door and stepped out. The police were quickly on the scene and wanted to know where "the body" was!
Recently a relative who'd once scoffed at Hyundai products (he was once the ranking World Ichibon Mechanic) purchased a brand new Hyundai Elantra for his daughter.
Do they make a 4-cylinder Sonata? If so, they don't sell them around here much. My Sonata is a 6 and it is plenty zippy.
They have certainly advanced a long way from making poor copies of the Mitsubishi Precis.
6 cyl :-}
Wow....glad your son is okay!!!!
At worst, the Hyundais are a notch, notch and a half below the Japanese makers in terms of quality. More often they are on par and sometimes they have a slight edge. Their big advantage is price. You basically get a Camry-equivalent for the price of a heavily discounted, last years' model, gotta go NOW base Chevy Cavalier.
Hyundai demonstrates the belief that it takes about 20 years to develop a proper automobile manufacturing culture.
I think the Sonata is better looking than the Camry too.
If you're gonna buy Korean cars, buy new ones and pray a lot. Don't buy anything even five years old.
Wait one or two more model years. Hyundai is still busy cleaning house over there - at least wait for another model cycle.
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