Hyundai redefines ‘Modern Premium’ in its new line-up of cars

BADGED in Korea as “Avante,” the Elantra is considered as Hyundai’s biggest seller at the moment. Photos By Alvin Uy

Last January at the 2011 Detroit Motor Show, Hyundai revealed its new brand direction by defining its brand concept as “Modern Premium” with the introduction of its sexy three-door Veloster coupe and Curb Concept vehicle. This is in line with what Hyundai Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun said was Hyundai’s drive to “satisfy new values by creating new possibilities with new thinking about our customers and our cars.” Hyundai Motor Company is considered one of the world’s fastest-growing automotive companies and its new brand statement “New Thinking. New Possibilities” certainly offers a glimpse of the automaker’s vision of the way their new cars will look and perform.

Hyundai recently invited some 70 members of the international media for a test drive of the all-new Elantra along the picturesque outskirts of Seoul. The twisty roads along the Han River provided a spectacular backdrop and excellent course to test Hyundai’s newest compact model.
The Elantra is another installment of Hyundai’s “Fluidic Sculpture” design concept, which is also evident in its other vehicles like the all-new Tucson, Sonata and Accent models. Its body creases highlight sculptural forms and surfaces as if shaped by the wind that offers a distinctive and modern look. Dubbed as the “Wind Craft,” the 2011 Elantra is a product that encompasses Hyundai’s new brand concept, “Modern Premium,” which aims to provide customers with an emotional value and driving experience in line with Hyundai’s new brand direction that aims to show a new spirit of change reflecting the brand’s dramatic growth in all areas of business.

Chung further adds: “Today, customers do not believe that expensive cars with unnecessary technology are premium. Instead, they want their core needs fulfilled at an accessible price and with a car that exceeds their expectations; a car that reflects their values and the times in which they live. Hyundai is not just a company that makes cars. Hyundai is a company that creates new possibilities. Our goal is not to become the biggest car company. Our goal is to become the most-loved car company and a trusted lifetime partner of our owners.”
This advocacy runs against the grain of traditional thinking that the word “premium” is associated with a higher price. Hyundai’s version of “Modern Premium” offers a high-end, high-quality value proposition at a surprisingly attainable price.

This seemingly new-age thinking offers a refreshingly new attitude that is consumer-oriented and market-sensitive but carries an age-old formula of giving value-for-money products that show Korean cars have come of age and is considered a global automotive powerhouse already.

Its highly successful 2011 Sonata mid-size family sedan shook up the US market while the larger Genesis sedan won the prestigious North American Car of The Year Award in 2009, redefining luxury with an attainable price besting other cars in the segment.

US research company Edmunds recently surveyed Hyundai as having an average 12 days’ “stay on the lot” shelf life in dealerships in the North American market, despite a downturn in the auto industry.

Its guaranteed trade-in value program and quality initiative program that started in year 2000 seems to be paying off.

$45 million gamble

What is also paying off is Hyundai’s US$45-million wind tunnel facility, said to be the biggest in Korea and only one out of four of its kind in Asia. This state-of-the-art wind tunnel

A FLEET of Elantra cars readied for an international media road trip in Seoul, Korea. Photos By Alvin Uy

facility is among the several testing facilities in Hyundai’s R&D center in Namyang. Established in 2000, all its cars are sculpted using this facility not only to slice against the wind, but to improve on cabin acoustics using its sensitive audio equipment.

Testing the Elantra proved that its tranquil interior acoustics is a testament to years of R&D paying off.

Those who attended the Elantra test drive were also taken around the Namyang facility, together with other testing sites such as the high-speed test track where various road surfaces replicate the toughest road conditions in the real world.

Exciting times ahead

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. has grown into the Hyundai Motor Group, which is now ranked as the world’s fourth-largest automaker and includes more than two dozen auto-related subsidiaries and affiliates.

With six manufacturing plants outside South Korea, it sold approximately 3.6 million vehicles globally in 2010 and targets to sell over 4 million this year. Hyundai vehicles are sold in 186 countries through some 5,300 dealerships and showrooms.

“These are exciting times for Hyundai,” exclaimed Lee Yong Won, EVP and head of Overseas Sales for Hyundai in a cocktail reception held on the same week. Lee also warmly received the Philippine media contingent, stressing that its Philippine partner, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari), the country’s distributor for Hyundai, is an excellent partner. Hari recently won the prestigious “Global Distributor of the Year” title at the Hyundai Motor Company global convention in Banff, Canada (See separate story).

Lee further added that Hyundai is working on several other initiatives toward promoting its “Modern Premium” advocacy, with recent co-branding projects similar to its tie-up with international luxury brand Prada and its Genesis line. Prada was commissioned to design a limited edition of Genesis sedans to be offered in some specific markets.

The 2011 Elantra is a fifth-generation model that started its first generation model in 1990. The current model represents a major shift in market orientation as being more modern and sporty, compared with its fourth-generation predecessor, which is conventional and traditional, explains Jong Hoon Woo, Hyundai’s Product Manager for Overseas in charge of the Elantra.

Since 1990, over 750,000 units have been produced and sold. Badged locally in Korea as the “Avante,” it is considered as Hyundai’s biggest-seller at the moment.