Posted on 02/19/2011 1:15:34 PM PST by reaganaut1
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Few people in this city 800 miles south of Detroit cared much about the auto industry until Hyundai announced it would build cars here nine years ago.
These days, Montgomery cannot stop talking about it.
Hyundai and its sister company, Kia, which opened a plant last year just across the Georgia state line, have brought thousands of well-paying jobs to the region and even helped nurture a little Korean culture in Montgomery, the first capital of the old Confederacy. Hyundai is running its Montgomery plant almost nonstop. Rarely do more than a few weeks pass without word that another parts supplier has dozens of new positions to fill, typically offering good benefits and double the pay that the average Alabaman earns.
Hyundai, which will observe its 25th anniversary selling vehicles to American drivers on Sunday, was little more than an ambitious, second-tier brand when it chose to build its first United States car factory just south of Montgomery. But during the recent recession, the South Korean company thrived as Americans sought out cheap cars just as Hyundais were improving in quality.
In 2010, Hyundai and Kia each posted their highest sales in the United States and, taken together, surged ahead of Ford Motor to become fourth-largest automaker worldwide. Hyundai built 300,000 cars in Montgomery last year and sold most of them in the United States.
“If folks looked deeply at how far we’ve gone so quickly, from having no U.S. production five years ago to where we are today, it’s amazing,” John Krafcik, chief executive of Hyundai Motor America, said. “I don’t know that any company has gotten to such a high level of local assembly as Hyundai that fast.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Nice looking ride. What is under the bonnet?
“It looks like Rush’s Maybach.”
He could keep one in the trunk.
Hyundai and Kia are owned by the same company, and many of their cars are now “related” like Chevy and Buick (run on same/similar platforms.
We bought a Hyundai last year and my wife is very pleased with it. It was a great value. I did try to buy American but F was way overpriced (and don’t deal) and GM was slightly overpriced and had really cheap-looking interiors - besides being “on allocation”, which I think was a trick to create an artificial shortage to keep the price high. Well, eventually, someone will buy my GM car.
Their styling is done in the US, I believe. They do tend to copy the styling of other manufacturers, but the cars really do look good.
I had a Kia sorento- 5 sp auto with od- 265 hp 25 mpg- fun to drive and fast
Bob King, president of UAW
It’s easy to understand why the Koreans would favor the South over the North...
385 hp at 6500
385 lb ft torque at 3500
119.9 inch wheelbase and 4400 lbs it is not a small car
They know northerners have no electricity.
The lights are real. The boundaries are added on, in case Sheila Jackson Lee is still a Freeper.
Just tell her it’s a flag on mars. She will understand.
The largest private investment ever made in the USA, the ThyssenKrupp Steel USA, plant is coming on-line just north of Mobile.
We expect (Boeing be damned) to land the $35 billion US Air Force tanker contract here in Mobile within the next couple weeks.
BTW, we won it once but Boeing pulled political strings and had the award cancelled.
Nice bit of power there. How quick is she off the line?
I would be all over a Sonata for myself were I not already going for the Nissan Leaf. (I'm buy it for purely nerdy as opposed to ecological reasons)
A Picture is worth 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 Words.
I wanted to buy American but not UAW built and my 2011 Sonata has ended up being the perfect car for me. It’s sleek, elegant, comfy, has all the gadgets I need in it and gets really great milage. My round trips always average 36mpg or higher yet the 4 cylinder has more pep than I need. Never been happier with a new car and I’ve had many in my 70+ years.
The Leaf? Seriosuly?
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