Hyundai, history – Auto Story
In less than fifty years of operation, Hyundai managed to become (together with its subsidiary Kia) the fourth largest car manufacturer in the world. Let's discover together the history of the South Korean House, as young and powerful.
Hyundai, history
Automotive department Hyundai (Colossus, founded in 1947, active in various sectors such as finance and construction) was founded in 1967. In 1968, an Asian company signed an agreement with Ford to assemble under license Cortina while the following year the partnership was expanded with the arrival of Taunus 20Mreplaced in 1978 Granada.
The first real Hyundai
The very first Hyundai (and the first car designed in South Korea) is Pony, compact, introduced in 1975: designed Giorgetto Giugiaro and equipped with engine origin Mitsubishi, developed by a team of British engineers led by George Turnbull, former Austin Morris manager.
"Segment C" Hyundai enjoys success all over the world, primarily due to its low price. The third generation of this model - 1986 - is the first car of the South Korean brand sold in the United States.
extension
The Asian brand began to expand around the late 80s: in 1988, the second series of Berlinones debuted. Sonata – like a Pony with Giugiaro design and Mitsubishi technical components – and in 1991 it was the turn of the first engine fully developed by parts of Seoul.
Higher and higher
Since the late nineties Hyundai - which in 1998 acquired Kia (during the crisis) - decided to invest in quality, design and advertising: models began to be valued for their reliability (and also for their price) and - in the USA - for their Warranty 10 years or 160.000 2002 kilometers (five years with unlimited mileage in Italy). Since XNUMX, the brand has become a partner of various football events.
From 2000 to 2003, the Korean company is engaged in motorsport, or rather in the WRC World Rally, with Emphasis but without getting the corresponding places: the best result was the fourth place in the classification of constructors in 2002. Asian brand will try the adventure again in 2014 with a little i20.
