Posted on 01/11/2006 5:06:44 AM PST by CarrotAndStick
Toyota Motor Corp, one of the world's most successful automakers, claims to be afraid of a lot of things: complacency, competition, and success itself.
But in the United States, rival Hyundai Motor Co may well be at the top of Toyota's list.
"We're worried about them," Yukitoshi Funo, chairman of Toyota Motor Sales USA, told reporters in Detroit this week.
"Our main competitors here are essentially Honda Motor Co Ltd, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Hyundai, but Hyundai is the one we are very carefully watching," he said on the sidelines of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
South Korea's top automaker, until recently a target of jokes about broken-down parts, has dramatically raised its profile on the world stage with a benchmark study by research firm JD Power showing an improvement in quality to match the best Japanese brands.
Hyundai now sells far more cars than Volkswagen AG, Mazda Motor Corp and Subaru in the US.
It expects sales to rise more than 10 per cent this year to over 500,000 units, in an overall market that it reckons will shrink.
In 2005, Hyundai's sales fell 7.7 per cent to 418,615 units, giving it a market share of 2.5 per cent.
"The quality story is resonating," Bob Cosmai, Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Motor America, said at the Detroit show.
"We're broadening the depth of our product line, and it's a great value story. When I joined the company at the end of 1990 we sold 90,000 cars, so we're making our presence really known."
Unveiling the remodelled Santa Fe sport utility vehicle at the show, Cosmai said its popular model would be priced "thousands of dollars" below a comparably equipped Toyota Highlander with six airbags, electronic stability control and other advanced safety features.
As Cosmai admits, Hyundai's path to success has been modelled closely on Toyota's strategy of striving for top quality and competitive prices, and appealing to a broad range of customers with wide-ranging cars.
That's what worries Toyota most.
"Honda and Nissan are also formidable rivals, but they have a distinct business approach and profile from us," Toyota's Funo said. "Hyundai, meanwhile, is essentially doing what we're doing."
But Funo added that Toyota would not and could not compete with Hyundai on prices, and would instead focus on building its brand and value.
"Our costs aren't as low as Hyundai's. We don't want to compete on their terms," he said.
His Hyundai counterpart, meanwhile, seemed to be adopting Toyota's characteristic modesty when asked how the South Korean company stacked up.
"I'm not sure anyone's a big threat to Toyota right now," Cosmai said.
"They're a very successful company," he said, adding that Hyundai benchmarked much of its processes and design characteristics around Toyota. "We have a long way to go."
"And the Camry's not invincible, so they'd better not get the feeling it is. Just from my personal experience, in the past two years, my 1998 Camry has cost nearly $1800 in maintenance and repairs to keep running (thank you Toyota for defective strut mounts that you claim aren't a widespread problem (BS)).... by comparison, my 1997 Taurus has cost only $230 to maintain, all but $50 of that being routine maintenance."
My relative had a '99 Camry and that strut problem was indeed a problem. They even had struts on the rear end which I didn't realize. His new 2005 Camry doesn't particularly impress me. He's got some kind of rattle in it. I much prefer my new Escape Hybrid. I actually think the quality is a good deal better.
What the Hyundai has going for it is the warranty. That's nothing to sneeze at.
I have a 1988 Hyundai Excel with 285,000 miles on it. The only major problem was having the transmission changed. I have the oil changed every 3,000 miles. Car has a few minor problems but nothing that wouldn't be expected of a car this age.
I don't know, but I wish she were my girlfriend.
You're just lucky. I bought a new '89 Excel hatchback, and strictly followed all the maintenance schedules. Despite that, the engine had several catastrophic failures due to poor metallurgy and parts breakage. The plastics throughout the car were the worst I've ever seen. Some plastic replacement parts would fail after just 6 months!
I had that similar experience with a 76 Volvo. I had a 70 Volvo and liked it so well that I went out and got a new 76 top of the line Volvo SW. The engine had the cam shafts replaced every 11,000 miles, the electrical switches had to be replaced almost as often and the wiring that was used was terrible. After 24,000 miles, I dumped the 76 and my 70 was still running strong.
"absolutely. hyundai's turnaround has been remarkable..."
Are you taking notes GM and Ford?????
I'm speaking more of the last few years. It took the Japanese companies quite a while to get it right, too.
Sorry you've had the camry strut problem, too - hopefully Toyota will come to their senses, but I'm not holding out hope. The '87 Camry had horrible rust problems and body trim that fell off of every single one I saw around town, but Toyota didn't do anything about it....
As for the newer ones, I think they're good vehicles - but they have had persistent dash rattle problems, if that's what you're referring to. Another known problem overlooked by the press. And I'd like to see a little soft-touch materials instead of the hard plastic thats becoming over-prevalent.
As for the Escape Hybrid, the Mercury Mariner was named one of the most reliable vehicles on the road by Consumer Reports (if CR has credibility left), and as an identical twin, the Escape should be there as well. Add to that the fact that many of the hybrid components are made by the same company that makes the Prius components, and I think you've got a solid vehicle.
And I certainly agree - I doubt Hyundai's quality is as good as reported, but a 10yr warranty certainly makes up for the difference....
This is my second Escape and as far as I am concerned the quality is superior to the Camry. I couldn't be happier.
Toyota gets to bury problems like that engine oil sludge, Honda with their defecetive automatic transmissions.
but if GM has a faulty door latch, the recall makes the front page of the news.
We've almost always bought Ford products, gently used. The price and model of the Hyundai Sonata drew us in this time, though. We're very pleased. Nice price, nice car, very quiet, smooth drive.
Why does anybody even consider a Scion? They are truly the butt-ugliest cars on the road. I haven't seen an ugly car list without scion listed high since they came out with them.
That along with customer satisfaction and low maintenance.
Maybe Hyundai is catching up with Toyota, but anyone who has had any quality engineering classes knows Toyota quality is unbeatable, especially in tolerance control. It's really hard to emulate Toyota manufacturing and assembly. I love my Tercel, Corolla and now 05 Celica. My son crashed my Tercel last year, but it is still parked in my driveway. Just can't part with it. LOL!!!
LOL!
I think you're right. But I've own serveal Chevys and my two Hondas (S2000 and Civic Si) are a lot better cars.
Better in Texas, better in a Ford!
I don't know, but I wish she were my girlfriend.
No you don't! Married to a half Korean for a while. Half was enough!
(/south park)
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