Hyundai started with Chung Ju-Young in 1947 when he created the Hyundai Engineering and Construction company. Later, in 1967, would it be turned into the Hyundai Motor Company. The very first model vehicle that they released was the Cortina, made in cooperation with Ford. Hyundai wanted to start making cars on their own. In order to do this, they turned to George Turnbull who was the former Managing Director of Austin Morris at British Leyland. He brought over five other British engineers with him. It was in 1975 that they delivered the first Korean car, the Pony. Based on styling by Giorgio Giugiaro of ItalDesign and a powertrain provided to them by Mitsubishi.
Hyundai decided to take the Pony out of Korea and around the world. The first place was in Canada in 1986. The US was declined the car based on the Pony not passing the emission standards of the time. That didn’t stop the car from enjoying great sales in Canada where it became the top-sell car on the market. Hyundai later gained entry into the US market with the Excel. The car would go on to be nominated as the “Best Product #10” by Fortune magazine due to the affordability.
Since then, Hyundai has become a world wide car maker. More than 40 years in the business have made them one of the names in automobiles. It is one of the largest companies in the world with 45 affiliated domestic companies and 254 overseas companies in nearly 200 countries. It’s very clear that the Hyundai name brand is here to stay.
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