Hyundai

Profile
Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai), the largest car manufacturer of South Korea, is one of the leading global automobile producers (Datamonitor, 2010).   The company ranked the fifth largest automaker in the global market in 2009 and other main competitors are the most famous carmakers which are Toyota, G.M, Volkswagen and Ford (Appendix 1, OICA Website, 2010).   The company mainly produces passenger sedans, sports utility vehicles (SUV) and commercial vehicles, and it has forty-two affiliate companies such as Kia Motor, automobile components, steel, stock and capital companies (Company Website, 2010).

Moreover, Hyundai is the fastest growing automaker in the world automotive industry.   For instance, the company registered revenues of $72.3 billion in FY2009, an increase of 14.7% over FY2008.   In particular, Hyundai boosted its operating profit margins over the last three financial periods and it elevated from 4.1% in FY2007 to 5.9% in FY2009.   Thus, Hyundai has been able to improve the automobile market share in the global market more than other competitors in spite of the recent world economic recession (Datamonitor, 2010).

Origins and Key Developments
Hyundai was established in 1967 and it did not have proper technology in order to produce automobiles.   As a result, although Hyundai released the Pony, the first export car model in South Korea, with technical assistance from Mitsubishi Motor in 1975, the company struggled with the manufacture of cars until the 1980s (Company Website, 2010).

However, Hyundai developed core components independently such as gasoline engines and transmissions for the first time in the 1990s (ibid) and the company began to invest significantly into its car quality, design and research in the 2000s.   As a result, Hyundai has been able to achieve high sales and a powerful brand value in the world automobile market (Datamonitor, 2010).

SWOT Analysis
Hyundai has established a strong brand image. According to Interbrand...