Evaluation of Hyundai Motor Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluation of Hyundai Motor Company - Essay Example For instance, the company registered revenues of $72.3 billion in FY2009, an increase of 14.7% over FY2008. In particular, Hyundai boosted its operating profit margins over the last three financial periods and it elevated from 4.1% in FY2007 to 5.9% in FY2009. Thus, Hyundai has been able to improve the automobile market share in the global market more than other competitors in spite of the recent world economic recession (Datamonitor, 2010). Origins and Key Developments Hyundai was established in 1967 and it did not have proper technology in order to produce automobiles. As a result, although Hyundai released the Pony, the first export car model in South Korea, with technical assistance from Mitsubishi Motor in 1975, the company struggled with the manufacture of cars until the 1980s (Company Website, 2010). However, Hyundai developed core components independently such as gasoline engines and transmissions for the first time in the 1990s (ibid) and the company began to invest signific antly into its car quality, design, and research in the 2000s. As a result, Hyundai has been able to achieve high sales and a powerful brand value in the world automobile market (Datamonitor, 2010). ...   re, Hyundai was awarded â€Å"car maker of the year 2010† by AM, the UK’s auto trade magazine (AM Website, 2010), and automobile experts from nine Middle East countries selected Sonata, the company’s typical car, as the best mid-size car of the year 2010 (Company Website, 2010). Thus, the company is able to gain more customers and to record high sales due to a strong brand image (Datamonitor, 2010). Nevertheless, Kiley (2007) argues that despite earning a good reputation for a strong brand value, the company still does not establish high sales in the luxury car market. Customers who want to buy a car from Hyundai are mainly considering its inexpensive price and this price story is called the company’s image problem â€Å"The Yugo Factor† (BusinessWeek, 2007). When the company entered the US car market in the 1980s, it was generally compared with Yugoslavian automobiles which have quality problems (ibid). For instance, when the Hyundai’s v ehicle was shown without any company’s logo in research with 200 car traders in the US, 71% of people would buy it. However, when the car’s logo was displayed, there were only 52% of people. This is the reason that Hyundai is still struggling in the luxury automobile market (Kiley, 2007). However, Hyundai