Word: hyundai
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Less than a month after Hyundai Motor America introduced the $4,995 subcompact Excel, the first South Korean-made car to enter the U.S. market, company officials have discovered a problem that could result in complete brake failure. During routine predelivery checks, Hyundai inspectors found that a critical pin was improperly installed in the braking system of three cars. Though no accidents have been reported, the company took no chances. Moving fast, Hyundai executives last week voluntarily recalled all the 4,400 Excels sold in the U.S. Owners were promised free inspections and repairs by Hyundai dealers...
Auto-industry observers were impressed with how quickly Hyundai responded to the situation. Still, it was not the kind of debut that a carmaker dreams about...
...names were at the Houston Auto Show: General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Toyota and Nissan. But the name that attracted the most attention was a new one: Hyundai (rhymes with Sunday). Hyundai is the first South Korean company to export cars to the U.S. At the Houston show and at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in New Orleans, Hyundai last week unveiled its new Excel, a front-wheel-drive subcompact with an enticing base price of $4,995. The company is launching Excel with a $25 million advertising campaign and confidently predicts that it will sell 100,000 vehicles...
...business arena is more alluring to Korean manufacturers than the U.S. auto showroom. Americans bought some 11 million cars last year for $131 billion. Hyundai, whose Pony subcompact is already the best-selling import in Canada, may be able to capitalize indirectly on the lofty reputation of products made in Japan. Says Edward Klein, a Canadian auto dealer who sells the Pony: "People perceive it as a quality car because it comes from the Orient." That perception has some foundation: Japan's Mitsubishi owns 15% of Hyundai and supplies the technology for the Excel's engine and transmission...
...Hyundai is only the first of several Korean companies that are eyeing the American market. Daewoo, a firm that is 50% owned by General Motors, hopes to be selling 80,000 cars in the U.S. in 1987. Kia, a Korean conglomerate, could link up with Ford, and Chrysler has held talks with Samsung, another firm with designs on the U.S. market. Maryann Keller, an auto-industry expert with Vilas-Fischer Assoc. in New York City, predicts that imports from such countries as South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and Brazil will one day control the important U.S. market...