By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Hyundai Motor has broken its Japanese rivals’ two-year sweep of the Top-10 list of ``Consumer Reports,’’ ― a prominent American monthly magazine, to show its enhanced brand image in the United States with its quality products.
Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor, also continued to gain a good reputation in the European market with its small family car ``Cee’d.’’
In a first for South Korean carmakers, Hyundai Motor’s ``Elantra SE’’ and ``Santa Fe’’ were selected by the magazine as the top small sedan and the top mid-sized sport utility vehicle, according to the latest survey published Thursday.
Consumer Reports releases the results of the annual survey based on various tests of over 260 different models and opinion polls of over 1.3 million consumers every year.
Having millions of subscribers, the annual Consumer Reports new car issue is typically the magazine’s best-selling issue and is thought to influence millions of automobile purchases.
Hyundai Motor vehicles have been recognized in similar surveys including one by J.D. Power, influential marketing firm based in the U.S. But it is the first time for a South Korean manufacturer to be ranked high in the Consumer Reports top pick list.
In the meantime, the redesigned ``Chevrolet Silverado,’’ made by U.S. auto giant General Motors, topped the pickup category. It was the first time since 2005 that a U.S. automaker was noted in the Top-10 list.
Japanese automakers including Toyota Motor, Honda, Infiniti and Matsuda placed seven vehicles in the Top-10 list and continued their dominance in ratings for performance, safety and reliability. In 2006 and 2007, the Japanese producers swept all 10 categories.
Toyota’s gasoline/electric ``Prius’’ capped ``green car’’ honors for the fifth straight year and the ``Lexus LS 460L,’’ also by Toyota, ranked top in the best luxury sedan category.
Honda ``Accord’’ was on top of the family sedan list. ``The best cars sold in the U.S. are still made by Honda,’’ Consumer Reports said.
Hyundai Motor, the top South Korean automaker, has made continuous efforts over the past several years to shrug off its ``cheap brand’’ image abroad with quality products.
In January, the automaker launched its first luxury sedan, the ``Genesis,’’ to compete in the upscale market, which has been dominated by Japanese and German brands such as Toyota Motor’s Lexus and BMW AG.
Kia Motors is also getting good recognition abroad, especially in Europe. Kia’s ``Cee’d’’ was praised as the ``professional and sexy’’ car by France’s AutoPlus. German weekly magazine Autobild also described the Cee’d as standing comparison with Volkswagen ``Golf.’’
Hyundai Motor forms the world’s sixth-largest automotive group along with Kia Motors, the second-largest carmaker in South Korea. Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group aims to be in the world’s top 5.