Hyundai – Flying High in 2010

Hyundai Genesis Coupe

I remember Hyundai’s mid-90s inception into the South African market rather well – at least, as well as an 8-year old boy possibly could.

A close neighbourhood friend at the time stayed directly across the road from me and his dad purchased a bottle green Hyundai Accent almost as soon as the vehicle was launched here.

1995 Accent - one of the first Hyundai models to reach South Africa

For many years, Hyundai’s were the source of plenty of sniggers in the highly badge-conscious market we find ourselves in. Not only were they burdened with a name initially pronounced as everything from “Hun-die” to “Hi-yoon-die”, but many thought the Korean manufacturer’s badge design mimicked that of Honda’s a little bit too closely for comfort, creating an early perception of Hyundai as an inferior, copycat brand in relation to its more established brethren. A similar modern-day comparison can be seen should one peruse the exterior design of the GWM Florid, which looks exactly like a Toyota Yaris.

Early Hyundai models also suffered from rounded, lacklustre designs that mimicked big blobs of jelly – the luminescent colours many of them were painted in further highlighted how fitting they’d look when drenched in some custard.

Of course, at just eight years old, I never realised too much of the above. The chance to go for a drive in my neighbour’s brand new car was always welcomed. But it was a drive to Hyundai’s Open Day in Cape Town that I will never forget.

All new Hyundai owners could enter the event free of charge and the festivities were off the scale, including free everything – food, carnival rides and even a trip in a helicopter!

Here was clearly an automotive brand pulling out all the stops to prove to its throng of new supporters that they had all made the right decision to purchase a bright Hyundai instead of a white Corolla like the rest of the country.

15 years later, and it appears that Hyundai has more than lived up to the fanfare I witnessed on that mammoth Open Day. It is not at all uncommon to find Hyundai Accents well over 10 years old still trundling along on our roads. Initially Hyundai’s South African staple model, Accents have proven to be tough little cars from the get-go.

However, it was the Hyundai Getz that really found its way into the hearts of local buyers, its cheeky good looks a departure from the aforementioned bubble designs. In terms of sheer ability, the Getz more than held its own against the previous generation Polo.

But beyond their practical strengths, it took just one casual observation a few days ago to realise how far Hyundai has come; I spotted the new Sonata in a parking lot and next to it stood a current BMW 3 Series. A little reminder is in order before I go on – the Sonata of the 90s looked particularly horrible when parked alongside the E36 3 series of that decade.

The classy new Sonata

And yet here, in 2010, the Korean looked vastly more striking than the German. Perhaps the BMW’s ubiquity has something to do with that, but I believe much of it is down to Hyundai having established itself so well in the areas of reliability and value, that the brand now possesses the confidence to endow its designs with some real fluidity and emotion.

The iX35 SUV is another case in point, coming across as a thoroughly modern shape and one that turns heads for the right reasons. A stint in both an i20 Hyundai and a Toyota Auris is enough to demonstrate that the gap in quality hasn’t shrunk – it has closed.

Beyond its dramatic progress throughout the model range, Hyundai is also fresh from its participation in the 2010 Fifa World Cup as official automotive host.

From above: The striking iX35 and the neat i20

Other than a Topgear comment I sniggered at some time ago about the Atos being “uglier than a bucket of smashed crabs”, finding negative talk about any Hyundai in 2010 is mostly a futile exercise.

Together with Kia, Korean automobiles have established themselves comfortably amongst the best of their European counterparts and as an option that should be on the shortlist of anyone looking to buy a new vehicle.