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SEOUL, Feb 19 (AFP): Six years ago, US late-night talk show host Jay Leno compared Hyundai cars to luge sleds, saying you had to push to get them going and they only went downhill.
At the time the wheels were coming off the Korean carmaker's drive to break into the US market and take on top US, European and Japanese auto manufacturers.
The Leno jibe and a slump in sales triggered an ambitious rethink at Hyundai Motor headquarters in Seoul.
A program to improve quality was launched and five billion dollars earmarked in 1999 for developing new models.
The push to project its image as a maker of elegant and reliable sedans is now paying off.
Hyundai won the 2003 Global Automotive Shareholder Value Award presented by PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Automotive News.
It is now ranked seventh in the world in vehicle sales and controls more than 70 per cent of the domestic market.
Hyundai began shedding its image as a cheap carmaker in 2000 when it shipped the Santa Fe SUV, or sport utility vehicle, in the United States. It sold 111,447 Santa Fes last year in the United States.
Its subcompact car, Getz, with a 1,300 cc engine, was also a hit abroad. Since its debut in Europe in 2002, Hyundai has sold about 100,000 units annually there, with its popularity rising in Russia and India.
For Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-Koo, the success of the image revamp has sparked even greater ambitions.
He aims to move upmarket and catapult Hyundai into the ranks of the world's five largest carmakers. Hyundai has piled up enough cash to make the attempt, helped by strong exports which have offset a major setback in domestic sales linked to weak consumption.
Hyundai, including its affiliate Kia Motors and overseas units, sold 3.18 million units last year, up 24.7 per cent from 2003.
Encouraged by his success, Chung unveiled an aggressive strategy to sell 3.73 million vehicles this year.
"Although this year will see many difficulties such as weak domestic demand, a global economic slowdown and unstable foreign exchange rates, we will continue our growth momentum and focus on quality and innovation," he said.
Hyundai set up the goal in August after unveiling its most advanced mid-sized model, the NF Sonata, a complete remake of the previous Sonata.
The company hopes the new Sonata to be launched in the United States from its one billion dollar plant in Montgomery in March will challenge popular Japanese models.
Hyundai sold 419,000 cars last year in the United States, up 4.6 per cent from a year ago.
In January, the company opened a 60 million dollar testing centre in California. The 1,750-hectare (4,300 acre) facility followed years of surveying US consumer tastes.
In Europe, the Hyundai-Kia group says it hopes to open a 1.24 billion dollar plant in Slovakia late this year.
Among other overseas production bases, Hyundai plans to set up its second auto plant in India by 2007 to boost capacity from 250,000 units to 400,000.
In China, the company saw sales rise sharply to 144,000 units in 2004, two years after it opened its first joint venture there. It has announced a 940 million dollar investment plan to boost the capacity of its China facilities to 600,000 units a year.
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