Overtaking Detroit

How did Hyundai go from laughable to laudable? What GM and Chrysler can learn from the South Korean automaker's turnaround story.

By Julie Halpert | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jul 8, 2009

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  • Posted By: dockster @ 07/09/2009 2:11:01 AM

    This article sucked. THere's no in depth reporting. You didn't say anything specific of what Hyundai did to turn themselves around. You didn't mention the steps, A, B, C, or strategies. This article blows.

    • Posted By: zz333 @ 07/09/2009 9:31:46 AM

      It is even more than that. Try some of the workplace practices Hyundai has in place, you would be run out of the country. They don't even talk about that.

      The y always talk about the rapid construction in the Arab,and Chinese regions. Go take a look at how they treat the workerrs.

      • Posted By: WestBMW @ 07/10/2009 4:42:22 PM

        Half of the Hyundai product is built in America which requires the same labor laws as are required by GM, Chrysler, and Ford and they are still here.

  • Posted By: The Messiah @ 07/10/2009 4:22:32 PM

    Can Hyundai tech Detroit how to use slave labor and not provide any health care or other benefits? How about how to have your vehicle at the dealership for warranty more often than in your garage? While Hyundai has made some progress, I would hardly be using them as the benchmark for a properly run company or quality product. BTW, how much does Hyundai pay their workers in the sweatshops and how much government support do they get? Just asking, ya know...

    • Posted By: WestBMW @ 07/10/2009 4:37:29 PM

  • Posted By: WestBMW @ 07/10/2009 4:33:32 PM

    Wow well put...I have been saying this for years now. All it takes is a quality product, good pricing, and backing of a product to get a good client base. Hyundai is following the same footsteps as Honda and Toyota. We all know that path works and Hyundai future definitly looks strong. With products like the Genesis sedan it is clear Hyundai can make the best car in its class. Give them ten years and Honda and Toyota will be building vehicles to compete with Hyundai instead of the other way around.

    Andrew

  • Posted By: The Messiah @ 07/10/2009 4:24:02 PM

    For the clueless... UAW salaries = Honda & Toyota US salaries. Time to get in touch with reality. Your out-of-date perceptions are not real.

  • Posted By: othmar brunner @ 07/10/2009 3:21:24 PM

    people who purchase asian cars because they are better quality are naive. what they are saying is that ford, chrysler and general motors produce a low quality product?
    if tyhis would be true it is not just the car sector it would be every other sector in which all these asian car purchaser work ie they produce a low quality product also. therefore lets lay them all off and replace them with asain workers.
    the reason why the asian car manufacturer are successful is because they screw the competiitors. why is it that europ, the usa and canada let the asian built car factories in our countries but the asian pre-dominately japan do not allow foreign car factories to be built in their countries. north americans and europeans are naive and stupid to purchase asian cars and the politicians who allow that are even more stupid

    • Posted By: GeorgeReston @ 07/10/2009 4:17:21 PM

      In 32 years that I've been driving, I've owned a couple of GMs, several Chryslers, a Honda, and a Toyota. The anti-theft system of the Olds spontaneously locked up requiring a tow to the garage and a repair that cost us nearly a grand. GM wouldn't help at all even though the car was maybe a month out of warranty and the problems were clearly quality-control/design issues. Our Pontiac's electrical system spontaneously died in a parking lot requiring a tow and a multi-hundred dollar repair. The Chryslers were constantly in and out of the garage for repairs. Honda -- absolutely no problems. Toyota -- absolutely no problems. What kind of nincompoop would buy a GM or Chrysler after that history?

    • Posted By: GeorgeReston @ 07/10/2009 3:53:38 PM

    • Posted By: craps @ 07/10/2009 3:45:08 PM


      Please check facts before spewing nonsensical drivel. The Asians produce higher-quality cars because they have better assembly-line practices and efficiencies - not because the actual workers are of Asian descent. Als, MANY foreign companies build cars in Asia. In China, Buick is one of the most popular brands. Audi also is very popular. Choke on this: if so many Buicks weren't being sold in China, there's a good bet Buick would have been one of the lines killed by GM.

  • Posted By: AnnieP. @ 07/10/2009 4:15:03 PM

    Hundai=no UAW
    GM=UAW greed + government interference & greedy payoffs =a big fat mess at the taxpayers expense

  • Posted By: OhioE @ 07/10/2009 3:19:19 PM

    1. Don['t have unions in your factories
    2. Don't let the government take control
    3. Don't expect to sell unemployed people new cars

    • Posted By: GeorgeReston @ 07/10/2009 4:08:56 PM

      Don't pay your CEOs and other top management billions of dollars. The culture of greed (especially at the top) drove Detroit into the toilet. Same with Wall Street. CEOs and top managers at Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai are paid a fraction of what American CEOs *claim* they're worth. Google this: Korean exec calls on industry to enact pay caps, better safety, higher mileage. No wonder that same Korean car company is doing well while the greedy, top-heavy American companies went belly up.

  • Posted By: DJWilson2 @ 07/10/2009 3:24:39 PM

    GM and Chrysler can learn about the "Customer First" mentality.
    I bought a Honda and I am happy with my car. What I am unhappy with is Honda Finance.
    If I had known that Honda Finance did not have the courtesy to modify their contracts I would never have bought from them.
    I doubt Honda will institute a similar policy of allowing turn ins because they really only care for money, not their customer.
    I would recommend anyone purchasing any car to find out what the options are for loan modification. If the loan cannot be modified, tell them to take a hike.

    • Posted By: Let Them Eat Cake @ 07/10/2009 4:03:24 PM

      The loan can be modified, go to another bank and apply for a refinance.
      Duh.

  • Posted By: Duke84 @ 07/10/2009 3:58:03 PM

    GM is doing what GM has always done. There is no change, no magic pill. They keep Chevy, their core business that does 75% of GM business, and the higher profit centers and EGO builders??? Buick and Cadillac. Aside from all the PR, its business as usual. GM's primary reason for bankruptcy is kill the UAW. 20 to 30$ and hour + benefits, costly (??) been to a doctor or lawyer lately. Check the IRS data and see which professions are making money. It???s not the blue-collar sector. College grads Expect 40+ $/hr and more. CEO are 6 digit+, Wall Street cries at curtailing 250K + bonuses. Get real people, keep it up and you all will be in bread lines.

  • Posted By: concerned liberal @ 07/09/2009 12:07:31 PM

    Again the majorities wishes bear not wieght on representatives decisions, fine, try to force me to buy GM or Chrysler vehicles! In 20 years from now GM and Chrysler will still be bleeding the American taxpayer by virtue of subsidies, no interest financing via the Fed, and of course no taxes as a further gift from the Union Emperor Barack Obama. Guess what, they will need every unfair advantage and will still fail. The best I can hope for them is my own part in never supporting them again acting as a further push into oblivion, good riddance!

    • Posted By: Michigan Teets @ 07/10/2009 3:49:05 PM

      You are uninformed. You and I have spent way more of our tax dollars supporting the korean goverment owned car companies. Traitor Jeff Session headed on the senate foriegn defense appropriations committee and sent billions to korea only to have it spent dumping these cars into our market for less than it cost to build them. Oh yea and then he had the kahunas to build plants in his home state Alabama. Look it all up the KORUS trade agreement, the sudicide of the Korean president, Carlise Group owning the national bank of Korea... Triator Jeff needs to serve some serious time, hopefully in Flint.

  • Posted By: Sailorman99 @ 07/10/2009 3:08:23 PM

    GM could probably be better off if they followed Hyundi's lead and moved to a country that gets Foreign Aid from the U.S. so they could subsidize their car manufacturing process, sales, and Warrantee programs. Then pay the workers poverty wages, not have to abide by any EPA rules and treat their employees like garbage. We should all by Hyundi cars, we already pay for part of them with Foreign Aid.

  • Posted By: amaunet @ 07/10/2009 3:04:27 PM

    I agree that this article totally lacked insight into exactly what Hyundai has done. But I can only go by my personal experience. My first car was a Chevrolet. It had nothing but problems from the beginning, and the car was essentially dead before hitting 75,000 miles. The repair bills to get it functioning properly were going to be more than the car was worth. I replaced it 5 years ago with a Hyundai Sonata, and I've never been happier. There hasn't been a single problem with the Sonata, and the only maintenance issues have been tire rotations and oil changes. The car still drives just like the day I drove it off the lot. My friends' experiences with American cars have been the same - built-in obsolescence, my one friend calls it. Hyundai has made a loyal customer out of me, and I'll think three times before buying American again.

  • Posted By: Omnius @ 07/10/2009 3:01:14 PM

    It's really sad that we're getting our behinds kicked by Asian auto manufacturers. Once their cars used to be objects of derision, now their cars are the objects of envy. I bought a used Datsun over 30 years ago and have been sold on their solid manufacture ever since. I've stuck with the Nissan brand because they last so much longer than American cars. I used to be a Chevy man but Chevy or any other American brand just does not have the same rugged quality that Japanese cars have and now the South Koreans have figured out the secret to building solid cars. American car manufacturers would be wise to study how the Japanese and South Koreans have improved their car quality and follow suit before they end up busted and mistrusted.

  • Posted By: eskildsonloyd @ 07/10/2009 2:48:04 PM

    Detroit didn't get where it is today by listening to others. Toyota set up an extensive joint venture with G.M., using a problem G.M. plant and work force to produce high-quaity/low-cost vehicles. The purpose was to repay G.M. for the help it had provided in Toyota's early days. Unfortunately, G.M. learned nothing over the approximately two-decade period.

  • Posted By: alfacanguro @ 07/09/2009 12:27:39 AM

    You call this a news article? Where's the news? Where's the analysis? Where's the beef? No wonder news magazines like Newsweek are losing subscribers!

    • Posted By: srakesh @ 07/09/2009 3:38:07 AM

      That's the problem with you people. You always need to be spoon-fed a strategy. If there is no silver bullet, it's no good pursuing it. You can sit in meeting rooms with those long ties to dribble out questions, but no common sense to boot.

      How about improve quality, cut prices, introduce free servicing/warranties and advertise for a start? Idiots.

      • Posted By: zz333 @ 07/09/2009 9:28:11 AM

        What is this with "you people"? Where does this place you. I wonder what the quality of your workmanship is, after seeing your diatribe.

  • Posted By: HF824hjs25 @ 07/09/2009 2:57:46 AM

    You call this an article? You sicken me.

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