Thanks, as usual, for the post, Stephane.
From PDL:
And what about Hyundai? A few of the Tweet-holes in the Twitterverse took me to task for deigning to criticize the Santa Cruz Crossover Truck Concept, because apparently there’s a fundamental belief “out there” (and with too many in the “so-called” media) that everyone in this business should get a gold star just for showing up. This just in: It doesn’t work that way.
Is Hyundai floundering in this market? No, floundering isn’t the right word, but they’ve hit the wall and the company’s momentum has definitely stalled. Hyundai is no longer the can’t-miss industry darling of a few years ago and now the scrambling has really begun, as in what does Hyundai actually stand for? Someone in that company needs to define what Hyundai wants to be, because just showing up in segments with a Hyundai badge and expecting the waters to part isn’t going to be nearly enough. And that’s a tall order, because the Korean auto executive mindset is more of the “we’ll flip a giant switch and we’ll automatically succeed” school of thought, which is patently irrelevant in this, the most competitive market in automotive history.
Maybe I don't get it. I don't know if PDL is just soaring, but I see Hyundai as a mainstream brand covering the market from bottom to top.
I'd never think of them as an A/B/MB competitor. That's silly.
I see Hyundai as a solid line of vehicles with the best of warranties, often cutting-edge styling, after Herculean effort getting right into the mainstream.
They worked hard and got mainstream. They're going up-level just like everybody does. Remember the Chevrolet Caprice of the late 1960s?
My take is Autoextremist is over-analyzing.
From PDL:
And what about Hyundai? A few of the Tweet-holes in the Twitterverse took me to task for deigning to criticize the Santa Cruz Crossover Truck Concept, because apparently there’s a fundamental belief “out there” (and with too many in the “so-called” media) that everyone in this business should get a gold star just for showing up. This just in: It doesn’t work that way.
Is Hyundai floundering in this market? No, floundering isn’t the right word, but they’ve hit the wall and the company’s momentum has definitely stalled. Hyundai is no longer the can’t-miss industry darling of a few years ago and now the scrambling has really begun, as in what does Hyundai actually stand for? Someone in that company needs to define what Hyundai wants to be, because just showing up in segments with a Hyundai badge and expecting the waters to part isn’t going to be nearly enough. And that’s a tall order, because the Korean auto executive mindset is more of the “we’ll flip a giant switch and we’ll automatically succeed” school of thought, which is patently irrelevant in this, the most competitive market in automotive history.
Maybe I don't get it. I don't know if PDL is just soaring, but I see Hyundai as a mainstream brand covering the market from bottom to top.
I'd never think of them as an A/B/MB competitor. That's silly.
I see Hyundai as a solid line of vehicles with the best of warranties, often cutting-edge styling, after Herculean effort getting right into the mainstream.
They worked hard and got mainstream. They're going up-level just like everybody does. Remember the Chevrolet Caprice of the late 1960s?
My take is Autoextremist is over-analyzing.
