I think back to the mid 80’s when a young Perth entrepreneur introduced the Hyundai car brand to Australia, shortly after Alan Bond would buy him out and I well remember Bond Motor Co launching this new Korean brand in the Perth room of the then Regent Hotel in Melbourne – the small Hyundai Excel hatchback was far from a quality product with poor plastic elements around the dash and very average paintwork. Hyundai and indeed its sister company Kia have come a long way today – early this century the Korean car makers made quality a high priority so it’s no surprise that in the latest J.D.
Power initial quality survey in the U.S. covering 31 brands and 75,000 new car owners Korean brands took out the first three places – Genesis, Hyundai’s new premium brand took 1st place, followed by Kia with Hyundai third, Porsche 4th , followed by Ford and Chevrolet with Lexus 7th. Jaguar and LandRover filled the last two places behind Volvo.
I’m David Berthon

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