2010 Hyundai Tucson: Begining of the downfall of GM and the Japanese?

[stateofbeasley]

http://www.insideline.com/hyundai/tucson/2010/2010-hyundai-tucson-first-drive.html

Edmunds' was impressed with the chassis, engine, and interior, among other things. They noted in the photographs that the interior controls have the practicality of a Honda (or at least the CR-V), and also said that the interior quality puts the RAV4 to shame. The engine isn't thrashy.

The chassis holds its end up, too, with MacPherson struts in front and multilink rear armatures offering a surprisingly good compromise between ride comfort and body-motion control
...

Propelling this artful collection of bits down the road is Hyundai's Theta II 2.4-liter inline-4, which cranks out 176 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, and 168 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. While it isn't exactly overpowered when unraveling the sinuous canyons of Malibu, where we were introduced to the Tucson by Hyundai, the twin-cam four feels entirely adequate on normal roads, and its exertions are never thrashy or intrusive in nature.
...

With an eye-catching new interior design, comfortable seats, climate control and opulent available equipment levels (including navigation, a back-up camera and a premium 360-watt stereo with iPod/USB inputs, Bluetooth phone connectivity and all the rest), the new Tucson has good urban street cred.

What is shocking is the price $19,790 (includes destination). The Chevy Equinox is $23,185 (includes destination).

With Hyundai's reliability ratings improving every year, I think the management at Toyota City must be very worried. The US Taxpayer should be extremely worried as well. With Hyundai cranking out cheap, reliable cars, I think it may be Hyundai, not Toyota, that steals the #1 global crown and sinks GM for good.

 

[zerocool84]

While I agree the car is a great step above, many people won't even look at Hyundai still. People in regards to cars are extremely brand biased.

 

[Chrono]

I'm definitely looking at a Hyundai for my next purchase in 5-6 years. I really like the new vehicles they're pushing out and can only imagine their vehicles being even better 5-6 years from now.

 

[Cobalt]

Can't wait till May till I hop in my new Genesis Coupe, happy birthday to me!

 

[waffleironhead]

That is one ugly vehicle.

I am impressed at the strides Hyundai has made in reliability though. My former employer had a fleet of 2003 sonatas and they were terrible terrible vehicles.

 

[Arkaign]

Equinox still seems the clear winner in this segment to me (with discounts it's priced about the same, and you get the available DI V6 as an option), but I really don't care for the segment to begin with. Hyundai/Kia though have continued to make decidedly impressive strides. I do think this definitely one-ups the CRV and rather pointless Rav4.

 

[Fenixgoon]

i actually like the look of the previous-gen tucson better. my parents have an '08 i think? nice vehicle.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Reliability seems to be good but they still don't make a single car that doesn't look like a steaming pile of dog shit...so I have no intention whatsoever of buying one.

370Z=HOT
Hyundai Genesis=meh...

 

[brblx]

i havn't been in a tucson, but hyundai/kia quality is becoming QUITE good. some of the newer models like the kia forte, i would honestly put above the competing honda and toyota models in build quality. they might not be quite as dead-nuts reliable, but they sure feel like a lot nicer cars than they were ten years ago. ford has something to fear and GM is already being handily trounced by them. hell, i'd put their cheapest model (rio) above the aveo and cobalt both, any day of the week.

 

[angry hampster]

Downfall? Nope. Competition? Absolutely. Hyundai has figured out how to compete in damn near every market segment, and they are doing so *very* well. It's not a wonder that their sales are up ~20% compared to last year. If itweren't for fleet sales, they could easily surpass Chrysler.

Anyone here driven a Hyundai Accent? Great competitor to the Corolla.

 

[caspur]

Obviously on a tech forum, people are quite tolerant of Korean manufacturers. LG, Samsung, etc....all make good consumer electronics. Unfortunately it doesn't translate into good cars.

The build quality of the Korean cars are worse than GM..and that is being generous. Some of you may have read my previous posts where the entire shipment of Kia's I got were broken.

They've been dumping cars into the fleet markets to boost their sales numbers..a tactic the domestics used to do to inflate their market share....and it is readily apparent in their resale values. Compare resale values of a Honda Accord vs a Hyundai Sonata.

The Korean car manufacturers compete on price alone. Their products offer no advantage over their competition in any market segment. Anyone who says otherwise is either Korean or stupid.

 

[brblx]

where do you work that got an 'entire shipment' of broken kias? not doubting you, i'm just curious and would like to hear your experiences if you deal in these cars.

but sorry, the quality on most GM's is not competing with hyundai's better cars. sure, both makes have their ups and downs, but in the economy segment (where hyundai makes most their sales) i do not know how you could call GM's offerings superior. a rebadged daewoo and the bastard child of the cavalier? no thanks.

my current job is repairing fleet cars. if you want to talk broken cars, i rarely if ever have to fix a new japanese or korean car. but i'd say at least one in five GM's i put in service is in the shop by the time is has 3000 miles. sometimes it's stupid shit like some UAW clown not knowing how to secure an electrical connector (happens a hell of a lot), and sometimes the car just totally shits the bed and has to go to the dealer. people on this forum think not liking GM is 'trolling,' but i can say that i've got a pretty first hand view of the quality of a lot of popular cars.

 

[angry hampster]

\

The build quality of the Korean cars are worse than GM..\.

If this includes Ssangyong, then OK.


If it's just Hyundai/KIA then frankly I think you're full of crap.

 

[Yongsta]

Obviously on a tech forum, people are quite tolerant of Korean manufacturers. LG, Samsung, etc....all make good consumer electronics. Unfortunately it doesn't translate into good cars.

The build quality of the Korean cars are worse than GM..and that is being generous. Some of you may have read my previous posts where the entire shipment of Kia's I got were broken.

They've been dumping cars into the fleet markets to boost their sales numbers..a tactic the domestics used to do to inflate their market share....and it is readily apparent in their resale values. Compare resale values of a Honda Accord vs a Hyundai Sonata.

The Korean car manufacturers compete on price alone. Their products offer no advantage over their competition in any market segment. Anyone who says otherwise is either Korean or stupid.

Your word vs reliability tests / rankings by companies such as Consumer Reports, I think I'll take the latter.

 

[StageLeft]

I dunno, these kid of pseudo micro little suvs like this and the kia sportage there are literally a million different ones, all equally blah and uninspiring to me.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

I've spent considerable time in a Rav4 Limited V6. Interior is pretty horrible and the leather has the feel of thin vinyl. I expected a lot more for the $29K these run!

Equinox still seems like the benchmark in the small ute segment as its very spacious!

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Downfall? Nope. Competition? Absolutely. Hyundai has figured out how to compete in damn near every market segment, and they are doing so *very* well. It's not a wonder that their sales are up ~20% compared to last year. If itweren't for fleet sales, they could easily surpass Chrysler.

Anyone here driven a Hyundai Accent? Great competitor to the Corolla.

That's funny because Hyundai became number #1 in the U.S. in fleet sales in 2009. All that talk of increased sales hiding the fact that most of the increase came from rental car companies.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/13/hyundai-and-kia-use-fleet-sales-to-boost-numbers/

http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/42960604/Asian-brands-take-lead-in-fleet-sales

 

[abaez]

Unrelated, but that third picture is the car heading East from downtown L.A. on the first street bridge with the new gold line eastside extension next to it. :thumbsup;