History of Hyundai (US), An American Success Story Options

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U.S. History

1968-73

• Hyundai apprentices with Ford Motor Company

1985

• Hyundai Motor America is established in Garden Grove, California with 227 employees
• Hyundai American Technical Center, Inc. is established in Chino, California with four employees

1986

• Hyundai exports the Excel to the U.S. market

1988

• Hyundai opens a $21 million, 300,000 square-foot parts distribution center in Ontario, California to facilitate parts deliveries to our budding network of dealership
• Hyundai opens a $16.6 million, 342,000 square-foot office complex and parts distribution center in Aurora, Illinois with 21 employees

1989

• Hyundai Motor Finance Company is established in Fountain Valley, California with an initial capital investment of $15 million and 22 employees

1990

• Hyundai Motor America opens our North American headquarters with 400 employees on an18-acre site in Fountain Valley, California for an investment of $18 million
• Hyundai opens a $12.2 million port facility in Portland, Oregon, featuring a large dock area, a 45,000 square-foot processing building, a holding lot for incoming cars, and an area for rail car and vehicle transport

1991

• Hyundai is the first automaker to provide buyers with regularly scheduled maintenance on top of a standard warranty at no additional cost

1994

• Hyundai introduces the Hyundai Protection Plan to protect customers against the cost of repair after a vehicle’s standard warranty expires
• In the J.D. Power Dealer Satisfaction Index, Hyundai rises from 19^th to 11^th place and shows the highest rate of improvement among all automobile manufacturers in the J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction Survey

1996

• Hyundai rises 49 points over the prior year in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey

1998

• Hyundai launches the innovative Hyundai Advantage, America’s Best Warranty, with all new vehicles, including 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain protection, 5-year/60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper coverage and 5-year/unlimited mileage roadside assistance
• Hyundai picks up 28 points in the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index survey, the largest point gain of any automaker in the survey

1999

• Hyundai enjoys an 82 percent sales increase over the prior year, the industry’s largest jump

2000

• Hyundai passes Mazda to become the number 5 selling Asian brand in the country
• In a product clinic conducted by Allison-Fisher, the Elantra is picked number 1 by consumers over the Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Dodge Neon
• Strategic Vision’s new car buyer survey ranks Hyundai’s Sonata sedan fifth among 16 cars in the compact segment and the Elantra sedan seventh among 20 competitors in the small-car segment

2001

• Hyundai Motor America receives the J.D. Power Chairman Award for our commitment to quality improvements

2002

• Hyundai breaks ground in Montgomery, Alabama for our first U.S. automobile assembly plant, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, valued at an initial $1.1 billion investment
• The Sonota is ranked first by J.D. Power in performance, driving experience and design research

2003

• The $30 million Hyundai Design and Research Center opens in Irvine, California with 100 auto designers, engineers, model makers and technicians, and is fitted with the world’s most advanced visualization, graphics and clay-modeling technologies

2005

• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama celebrates our grand opening and begins to produce vehicles, employing an initial 2,300 team members
• Hyundai creates 2,000 jobs in opening an $11 million vehicle testing facility in California City, California, covering 4,300 acres with eight different driving courses, including a 2.75-mile winding track, a 3.3-mile hill road, and a durability loop with a range of special surfaces, from cobblestones to potholes
• Hyundai American Technical Center, Inc. moves to a new $117 million, 190,000 square-foot headquarters in Superior Township, Michigan with 140 employees

2006

• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama is recognized by the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey as a Top Ten Automotive OEM Plant in North and South America – after just one year of operation

2007

• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama is recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency as the Atlanta Regional Minority Business Advocate of the Year
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama receives ISO/TS 16949:2002 certification, the highest automotive quality standard in the world

2008

• Hyundai invests $270 million in the construction of a second engine plant to produce 2.4-liter 4-cylinder Theta engines at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, ultimately adding more than 200 jobs to the plant
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama receives ISO 14001 certification for our environmental management systems
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama is recognized as Member Corporation of the Year by the South Region Minority Business Council and Alabama Emerging Manufacturer of the Year by the Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Technology Network

2009

• Hyundai spins off our parts division to form Mobis Parts America, which is responsible for the development and distribution of parts and accessories for Hyundai in the U.S.
• The Genesis is awarded “Car of the Year” in North America by a panel of 50 automotive journalists and places first in J.D. Power’s “Vehicle Launch Index”

2010

• The Sonata receives the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety “Top Safety Pick” and the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency’s five-star safety rating
• The Genesis and Elantra are recognized as “Best Car for the Money” by U.S. News & World Report
• The Accent places first among small cars in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study
• For the third consecutive year, Ward’s Auto World picks Hyundai’s Tau engine as one of the industry’s “10 Best Engines”

2011

• Hyundai invests $150 million in the construction of a new North American headquarters in Fountain Valley, California
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama earns the state’s Large Manufacturer of the Year recognition by the Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Technology Network
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama donates $1.5 million to the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund in response to the Alabama tornadoes
• The Sonata receives the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety “Top Safety Pick” and is runner-up for North American “Car of the Year”
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama invests $173 million to expand an engine shop, adding 214 new jobs
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama builds its one-millionth Sonata
• Six Hyundai 2012 models earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s “Top Safety Pick” honors
• The Veloster is named the “Best Economy Car” by Bloomberg in its “Best Drives of 2011” report
• Hyundai’s 1.6-liter Gamma engine is named one of the “10 Best Engines” by WardsAuto World
• The Elantra earns a “Residual Value Award” from ALG, the industry benchmark for residual values and depreciation data
• The Tucson is featured in the Kelley Blue Book’s “Best Resale Value Award” top 10 list
• The Hyundai brand achieves the biggest long-term gain in ALG’s Fall 2011 Perceived Quality Study, moving up nine spots to No. 9 over the past three years
• Hyundai maintains its No.1 spot for brand loyalty in Kelly Blue Book reporting
• The Equus is named the most appealing large premium car in the J.D. Power and Associates’ Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout study
• The Sonata leads the mid-size car segment in Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Index

2012

• Hyundai Motor America is named number one in fuel economy and CO2 emissions in America by topping the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy rankings for the 2010 model year
• Hyundai America Technical Center invests $15 million in world-class weather dynamometer test facility, adding 50 new jobs over next three years
• Hyundai offers a Lifetime Battery Replacement Guarantee for the Sonata Hybrid
• The Elantra is named 2012 North American Car of the Year