Hyundai (A, B, C, and D)

After a Korean automaker experiences a US sales decline amid a reputation for poor quality, how can it overcome its early missteps?
Don Sexton  | Spring 2010
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Three years after introducing the Excel in the most successful debut of a foreign-made car ever, Hyundai's US sales volume collapsed in 1989 amid a growing reputation for uneven quality. Yet after investing billions to improve product reliability, Hyundai still faced the perception it made poor quality cars. During the 2000s, the Korean automaker took additional steps such as introducing a new warranty offer and investing in design and branding - with impressive results. In January 2009, when US car sales fell to a 27-year low, Hyundai saw a 14 sales increase. In this four-part case students study two decades of branding efforts, investment, customer satisfaction data, and sales figures to examine the challenges of overcoming negative consumer perception and recapturing market share.


This is a multiple file case study.

Case ID: 102001

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