Thought I'd ask what the general opinion is of Hyundai in your native countries? I have to admit that I bought this car purely on looks and practicality without a real concern for the brand image.

I previously owned the Skoda Octavia VRS so I am not afraid of being shunned by the masses for having an inferior brand. If the car is good,I'll buy it. When I first bought the Vrs it was a gamble that paid off with regard to residual, I strongly feel that in the new Santa fe Hyundai have the same chance of pulling off a surprise.

With that siad, I would rate Hyundai as still haing quite a lot to do with regard to brand desirability here in the UK. I would put them on the bottom end of the badge snobs list with not too many lower on the current list.

This is obviously a bit of a worry with regard to our residuals, but as I said, a car this good surely can't lose that much, but whats it like where you live....?

Do hyundai have brand cred in your country?

Here in Canada I'd still have to say there is still some bad feelings about Hyundai, but this is quickly turning around. Everyone who see's our '07 SF have nothing but positive comments. More and more people are looking upon Hyundai favorably, but there are still people out there who equate Hyundai with a cheap, lemon, rustbucket Pony. My brother was stuck with a Pony when they first came out and I don't think he's forgiven them - he just bought a RAV4.

Most of my friends make jokes about me owning the Santa Fe. Gee, I wonder why I'm the only one in the group not neck-deep in debt?

the above post has got it about right, no other brands (with the exception of kia) can come anywhere hyundai for value for money and the five year warranty. o/k so the second-hand values may not be as high as other brands but you can't have it all ways. modern day hyundai's are nothing like they where ten years ago but it will still take a while for the brand to re-establish itself as a leading brand in the minds of the 'doubters' and only then will the re-sale values start to rise

Here is the evolution of Hyundai (based on a Canadian perspective)

1) The 80's Hyundais (all of which are dead) like the Pony, Stellar and Excel... nothing to be proud of.
2) The Cheap Hyundais from the 90's - crappy cars, but they were cheap
3) Hyundais of 2000-2006 - I call these "Transition" models - they proved to be quite reliable, but still lacked in technology, safety and design
4) Hyundais of Today - basically all the new Generation models from the new Accent, Elantra, Tuscon, Sonata etc... These are just as good as the Honda or Toyota models.

So, has the market warmed up to Hyundai? I think so, look at their sales, look at the recent quality ratings (JD Powers), look at their safety ratings.

There will be those who say they are crap, let them. These are probably the same people who drove GMs in the 80's and said Toyotas were crap.

Not a single auto expert has had anything but praise for new Hyundai models (and now Kia)

Hyundai/Kia is set to become 5th largest in the World in probably 1-2 more years... do you think Toyota, Honda, Nissan, GM and Ford a shooting bricks? You bet!

This post has been edited by BimmerDom: Feb 2 2007, 02:39 PM

Toyota, Honda and Nissan are shooting bricks. Ford and GM already made peace with the fact that Hyundai will pass them.

some great opinions..All of which I agree with, I think Bimmer has got it spot on with the transitional period between 2000/06. this is very similar to what happened to Skoda in the late 90's in the UK, however they had the clout of the VW group behind them to add some credability.

I wonder how hyundai have managed to turn things around so well, they're latest ad campain here in the uk is little short of revolutionary, so whats happened?

I heard a rumour that they managed to scout one of Audi's lead designers.....is that true?

I guess it's up to us to keep those customer satisfaction surveys like JD and what car informed.

Keep your opinions coming because I'm finding this subject really interesting. I guess i now have a vested interest :beer:

btw: you are also spot on about Kia, I found myself giving the X5 sport a glance the other day, also a very nice car....

I find I run into a very mixed reaction. I don't have anyone say "A Hyundai?? yuk", I have people say "oh yeah, I've heard not too bad of things about them", to "This is a Hyundai" when they see my Santa Fe, and especially when they ride in it.

So I guess a luke warm reception would indicate some of the past skeptisms are dropping, but still a certain amount of guarded caution to buying.

I think with these new models, and especially when the Veracruze hits the market, the opinions will warm up even more.

I do believe that Hyundai is doing there thing. NOw the Dealers have to make sure they give good customer service to insure repeat buyers, and good word of mouth.

Correct, Peter Schreyer is now the head of design for Kia. Peter Schreyer's accomplishments at VW/Audi included the New Beetle and the TT.

I've always been a satisfied owner of just two brands, BMW and Honda. I still think Honda is a very good brand, but have been dissapointed with the BMW offerings of late. So when Hyundai came out with their new generation, it really caught my attention. My in-laws in Korea said "don't buy a Hyundai" because they were under the same assumptions as others without knowledge of this latest generation of vehicles. The new US design team in California has a lot to do with that, appealing to more of a North American audience (and apparently UK tastes too), and the new US manufacturing plant in Alabama has a lot to do with quality. Overall, a very nice turnaround that is clearly evident in the cars.

Btw, the latest Consumer Reports had a First Drive report on the Santa Fe. Bottom line: very much positive.

Good point about the new US factory. I always make a point of telling people that it's built 100% in the USA. This goes a long way with people. I think North Americans have a bad perception & misconception of not only Hyundai, but of Korea ("isn't that where that crazy dictator is?", "Um, no, that's North Korea" :wacko: ). But once they hear it's built in the USA, they percieve there is a quality difference and that jobs are being kept in North America.

From my point of view, estetically not a great recommendation !!