Quote:
Originally Posted by EM-KOOP
I may not have the technical background but I am in the industry and I can tell you, Hyundai/Kia has alot of manufacturers scrambling to keep up with the recent surge that the South Koreans have displayed. I'm an exterior designer for VW/Audi Group and just recently, we've been acknowledging and extensively looking into what the South Koreans have been doing. Until a couple of years ago, the 2 brands were rarely if ever mentioned in reviews and discussions. Now, they're listed as one of the leading competitors whenever we design a VW. If they produce such shit cars, how can they afford to provide such an extensive warranty? Wouldn't they be out of business, like tomorrow??? And in ten years, I think their product will be unbelievable. If they can progress the way they have recently, I feel that they'll surpass quite a few of the manufacturers that are mentioned in this thread. By no means am I trying to claim that a Hyundai is engineered better than a VW but you have to consider the fact that they haven't been in the business nearly as long as VW. Having said that, the accelerated progress of the South Koreans is undeniable.
And with the Equus, Hyundai actually takes quite a hit in price. It's a vehicle that they produced to gauge the response for such an upscale offering from a brand such as Hyundai. If you actually have taken an Equus completely apart and you can state for a fact that it's shit, then I have nothing to say but i highly doubt it's the crap that you claim it to be. Hyundai will be launching a luxury brand in the near future and I'm quite sure that the quality will be very, very good.
Even though I design for a German company(and love it!), I'm actually very proud of what South Koreans are producing nowadays.  |
I take your points very seriously. Compared to a Buick or an infiniti, the Equus is a great car. However when the president of Hyundai came out and said here is the new Equus, it is just as good as the S-Class, LS, A8, and 7 Series..... I had my doubts. I have seen an Equus completely taken apart and have studied it's build and repair processes for the collision repair industry as that is what my job involves. It is no-where close to any of those cars. I am sorry, but it just isn't. It is no more advanced in it's construction then an Accent. When you look at the so called rivals, there are massive differences between a 3-series and a 7 series and a Lexus IS and a LS. I would have no problems with it if the weren't trying to market it as an S-class rival because it is misleading.
In the end, my dislike for Hyundai comes from the way they market their cars. I remember when the new Sonata came out, they ran a commercial stating that it had better paint quality then a Mercedes CLS. That caption was dropped after about 2 weeks after airing because it was false advertising. They were stating that their car had less "Orange Peel" then the Mercedes. This is not a sign of better paint quality. Considering that Mercedes uses a PPG Ceramic Clear coat on their cars which is extremely durable and will retain it's gloss much longer then a regular water based clear coat, the Mercedes actually has the better paint quality. I notice they still run that ad every now and then, but the caption is nowhere to be seen.Aslo BMW offers a 12 year rust warranty on their cars. That is the best in the industry. Hyundai offers 5 years tops. So your warranty comment lacks ground as even Chrysler offered a lifetime warranty on their cars a few years back and you can't tell me that they build the best cars out there.