IT?S RARELY EASY FOR A NEWCOmer to make a big splash in an industry already dominated by well established brands that have a cult following. The Philippine motoring sector is no different. The competition is even tougher for a non-Japanese brand breaking into a Japanese-dominated industry.

For Korean vehicle manufacturer Hyundai, the key to winning the Filipino motorists? hearts was a product that appealed to the core of the Pinoy being, the most basic unit of Philippine society?the family.

Fe Perez-Agudo, president and chief executive of Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari), the distributor of the Hyundai brand in the country, related that it was really the Starex that made Hyundai a household name here.

?It?s the Hyundai Starex that really cemented Hyundai?s status as one of the leading automotive brands in the country, especially in the passenger van segment. The Starex really captured the spirit of togetherness and the good life that Filipino families share,? she said in an email interview with the Inquirer.

?Discovering together, having fun together?Hyundai has made all those possible with a family van endowed with virtually anything that can make those exciting journeys and celebrations with the family a rewarding and memorable one,? she further said.

Breath of fresh air

When Hyundai started producing the Starex in the 1990s, she said the passenger van market was saturated with box-type models that looked rather stiff.

What placed the Starex on a class of its own, she related, was its European-inspired design?the signature bullet nose that offered a breath of fresh air in a market brimming with boxy vans.

?It was something different?it had curves,? she said. ?During the 90s, when there were all these box-type vans, the Starex brought a refreshing change to how Filipino families travel.?

While offering a sleek new design to the market, function and performance did not take a backseat. In 2004, Hyundai introduced its signature common rail direct injection (CRDi) engine technology, thus making the Starex one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles out in the market.

Gaining trust, market share

Since Hyundai formally entered the Philippine market in 2001 through Hari, Agudo said that as of September, a total of 16,793 units of the Starex had been sold.

The Starex, now with seven variants, had cornered 30 percent of the passenger van market as of end-September, according to data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc.

In the first three quarters, Hari managed to sell 2,105 units of its best-selling Starex.

Proof that Hyundai and its Starex model had captured not only the fancy, but also the trust of Filipino motorists was its winning the Automobile of the Year award for the Grand Starex, which Hari launched in August 2007, during the recent Auto Focus People?s Choice awards. The Grand Starex also won the People?s Choice award in the Large Van category.

Overall, Hyundai is now the country?s No. 4 automotive brand, behind dominant Japanese brands Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Honda. It is also the only Korean brand among the five largest brands in the country today.

Campi data showed that Hyundai had an 8.5-percent share of the market as of the third quarter, with sales reaching 7,949 units.

Although still a far cry from the market shares of the three leaders, Agudo believed that Hyundai still had enough steam to forge ahead and capture a bigger chunk of the market in years to come.
After all, the brand had managed to break into the Filpino motorists? Japanese brand-dominated consciousness.