I’ve been meaning to mention this lately. It seems that suddenly, and inexplicably, Hyundai and Kia became… cool.
My pals at Auto123.com wrote a piece on Hyundai and Kia becoming “a victim of their own success“, so I felt inspired to jump on their coattails and get this post out.
I know, I know. The Koreans are not exactly known for their automotive excellence. The first time I ever got an email from a customer saying “I’m considering the Infiniti M37x, the BMW 5-series and a Hyundai Sonata,” I had to read it twice.
I said to my buddy, Joe, in the cubicle next to me, “You gotta hear this.”
“What?” he asked back through the wall.
“This guy wants an M, a 5-series or a Hyundai Sonata! What a turd.”
“No, no,” he replied. “Hyundai’s making nice cars now.”
What? I thought to myself again. Am I in the Twilight Zone?
I just shook it off. I couldn’t bother myself to try and understand. I know I’m going to set myself up to look like a real jerk in this post, but I’m ok with that. Hopefully I can bring it full circle for you.
This is what I think of when I think of Hyundai:
1992 Hyundai Elantra, photo courtesy of edmunds.com
See? That’s not hot.
And this is what I think of when I think of Kia:
1994 Kia Sephia, photo courtesy of edmunds.com
Wait, is that the same car?
I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t care. They’re both awful. I’d walk before I had to drive either one of those hub-capped heaps.
Towards the end of the 00′s, both brands decided to straighten their ties, brush off their sleeves and zip up their flies. This is what they gave the world:
2009 Hyundai Sonata, photo courtesy of autoblog.com
Huh. Interesting. Not stunning, but certainly not awful, either.
2009 Kia Optima, photo courtesy of thecarconnection.com
Hey, Kia, I think you may be on to something here.
And then it happened. Both of them knocked it out of the ball park. They both started making, dare I say it, good looking cars.
You want to know something? I actually really like the styling of the 2011 Kia Optima.
2011 Kia Optima, photo courtesy of kia.com
And the Hyundai Sonata? Not so shabby, either.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, photo courtesy of hyundaiusa.com
The thing about these cars is that they aren’t just offering economy anymore; they are offering technology, style, comfort, quality all at a super low price. Both of these cars can be purchased in the mid $20,000′s.
Hyundai and Kia have started to offer what luxury manufacturers have been offering all along, with one minor exception: just about anyone with a driver’s license can get into a new Hyundai or Kia.
That doesn’t mean I’m shakin’ in my Infiniti boots or anything. But it does mean I have a new-found respect and admiration to both of these manufacturers for bringing the world something affordable and not purposefully dorkifying it just to be cruel (please refer to photo #1).
“See me in this 1992 Elantra? Yeah. I’m poor. And lame.” That’s what that car says. Even if it’s not true.
“I found these Prada hidden platform, peep-toe crocodile pumps? Yeah, I got them on clearance from Saks at half the price. Just because I could.” That’s what the 2011 Kia Optima says.
The other effect that Hyundai’s and Kia’s new success has is to put us luxury-brand folk back up on the edges of our seats. Some brands (I won’t name names) have gotten a little lazy in the past. I believe that Lexus and Infiniti both surprised those who shall not be named, um Mercedes-Benz, with some cool and innovative new technology.
So now what do Kia and Hyundai have to teach us at Infiniti that we can then perfect and scare Mercedes with?
I don’t remember if Sonata guy bought an Infiniti, a BMW or the Hyundai or not.
But from now on, I’m cheering you on, Kia and Hyundai. Keep up the good work.
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The Hip Hop Hamsters are brilliant.
Great observation! I think I agree with you.
Not only do I agree with you, but the manner in which you tell it is not only informative and accurate,but entertaining. I remember when I was automotive ad manager back in NYC and Hyundai came around with these awful cars wanting to buy ads for them. They weren’t even close to being on our ads sales prospect list. I think it was about the same time that the dreadful, or is deadful, Yugo was hitting the streets of NY too. The automotive press dismissed them as clunkers, and with no malicious intent toward Hyundai they were pretty rough. But the Hyundai folks were pitching them as good cheap second cars (better than buying a used car) for the “kids” or for a vehicle you could drive to the station in the morning and let sit in the snow all day, and leave the nice German car at home in the garage. As you noted well, the tables have turned, and have they ever down here in Dixie. There are new Sonatas everywhere. In fact our lovely 70 something next door neighbor just turned in her late model Lincoln Executive for a silver Sonata, and she is now the hottest widow in town. She has a very nice car. I often think the Korean car makers buy all the German car models, bring them home, take them apart, and reassemble one with parts from BMW,Audi,MB,with a nod to Infiniti too, put a few tweaks of their own into the mix, then knock off about $15,999 (car talk), then give them some kind of astounding warranty, and before you can say kung fu they have a sales success story. Sadly they don’t seem to draw much inspiration from GM products.
What do you think of the tough guy Chrysler TV commercials?
I too am pretty impressed with vehicles like the Equus. However I wonder why on thisr Premium V8 Luxury car they chose to leave off the “H” badge?
yeah they are good but, they have become too expensive, im moving on to find a different underdog car manufacturer
FYI Rach / the new Kias look so nice because they are designed by former Audi guru Peter Schreyer who gave the world LED running light fever. Nice post!
I just might be looking at it incorrectly, but the kia optima is simply one elegant tiny car.
2012 Kia Forte…
[...]When did Hyundai and Kia get so cool? – Rachael on the Road[...]…