HYUNDAI

HYUNDAI COMPANY

Hyundai Motor Company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is a South Korean multinational automotive company which was founded in 1947 by Chung Ju-Yung and later established in 1967. Along with Kia Motors, Hyundai Motor Group is the fifth largest automaker based on annual vehicle sale in 2012. Hyundai is now the fourth largest vehicle manufacturer company in the world. Hyundai automotive vehicles are sold in 193 countries through about 6,000 dealerships and showrooms. In 2008, Hyundai Motor Group without Kia was ranked as the eighth largest automaker.

Chung Ju-Yung founded the Hyundai Engineering and Construction company, the first model of the company is the Cortina and was released in 1968 in corporation with Ford Motor Company. In 1986, Hyundai began to sell cars in United States, and Excel was nominated as best product by Fortune Magazine, because of its affordability. In 1988, the company started producing models with its own technology beginning with the midsize Sonata. In 1996, Hyundai motor group was  established with a production plant in Irungattukottal near Chennai in India as Hyundai Motor India Limited.

In 2004, Hyundai was ranked second in initial quality in a survey by J.D. Power And Associates. Hyundai has also been one of the worldwide official sponsors of the FIFA World Cup. Hyundai is now one of the top 100 most valuable brands in automobile worldwide. Hyundai has six centres worldwide and three offices in Germany, India and Japan. Among these there is an American design centre in California to develop designs for US market. Hyundai has invested in research and development centres in Asia, Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim and in manufacturing plants in India, China, North America, Czech Republic and Turkey. In 2011, Hyundai sold 4.05 million cars worldwide and the Hyundai Motor Group was the fourth largest automaker in the world.