Latest news from Hyundai

Hyundai likes to start their press presentations with a sort of State of the Union address, and yesterday's Santa Fe intro was no different. As usual, I learned some interesting stuff about what's going on inside Hyundai:

1) Warranty costs are down. It's now been about 6 years since Hyundai introduced their 5 year/60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper and 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Warranty costs are now half of what they were in 2003, and a lot lower than Hyundai's internal projections. In other words, it seems that Hyundai has improved build quality beyond their own expectations.

2) Half of US-market cars to be produced in the US. Like the new-for-2006 Sonata, the new-for-2007 Santa Fe will be produced in Hyundai's new Alabama plant. With the Santa Fe online, the company estimates that 50% of Hyundais sold in the United States will be built in the United States.

3) 3rd-place JD Power ranking. For 2006, Hyundai finished third in the J D Power Initial Quality Study, just behind Porsche and Lexus.

4) 24-7. That's what Hyundai calls their program to renew 7 models in 24 months. It's almost done: The Tucson SUV was redesigned for 2005, the Sonata, Azera and Accent sedans were re-done for 2006 (with the Accent 3-door coming soon as a 2007 model), and the the Entourage minivan and Santa Fe are new for 2007. The redesigned version of the Elantra will debut later this year. Additionally, the Tiburon sports coupe will get a facelift, and a new family-size SUV (larger than the Santa Fe) is on the way.

5) Commitment to safety. As of 2006, 73% of Hyundai models will have electronic stability control (ESC) as standard equipment. Compare that to 45% of Honda models, 35% of Volvos and 20% of Toyotas. -- Aaron Gold