In Korean, Hyundai means "modern times". Founded in 1947 as an engineering and construction company, Hyundai received serious construction tenders from the state after South Korea's independence and undertook most of the country's transportation-infrastructure works.
In 1967, Hyundai Motor Company was established and automobile production was started within the company. In 1968, Hyundai's first automobile factory started operations in Ulsan. This structure, which is the world's largest integrated automobile factory today, produced 1.6 million vehicles in 2020. Thanks to the logistics company Hyundai Glovis, the entire raw material supply chain is also handled within the company.
The first car to come out of the Hyundai factory in 1968 was named Ford Cortina. This vehicle, which was produced in partnership with Ford, had a special importance. The time from the establishment of the factory to the derailment of the first vehicle was only 6 months. Production was done in a very short time.
After the sales success of Cortina and its success in the European market, Hyundai ended its cooperation with Ford and decided to manufacture under its own brand. George Turnbull, director of Austin Morris, has been appointed head of Hyundai's automobile unit. Together with 6 European engineers, 2 chassis designers, 2 test engineers and many technical personnel, arms were rolled up for Hyundai's first car.
In 1974, the Turin Motor Show was launched with the Hyundai Pony, and sales began a year later. This car was called “kukmincha” (people's car). This rear-wheel drive compact vehicle has been Hyundai's flagship for many years.
This vehicle attracted great attention in the Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Egypt markets. In 1978, it was opened to the Belgian, Dutch and Greek markets.
In the 1980s, Hyundai entered a period of rapid growth. It has become able to compete directly with large automobile companies that have been operating for a long time. Entered the UK market in 1982. The Pony was the best-selling car of the month in the UK in February 1982.
In 1984, Hyundai started to sell vehicles to Canada, where a performance well above expectations was achieved. For a while, the best-selling car in Canada was the Hyundai Pony. In 1985, the first version of the Hyundai Sonata was developed. With this model, Hyundai has delivered its one millionth vehicle.
In 1986, the Pony Excel model became the first Hyundai model to be sold in the United States. The first front-wheel drive Hyundai vehicle, this model, like the first Pony, was designed by Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. It released 168,000 units in its first year in the US and had one of the highest brand-model sales of all time. In terms of price and performance, Forbes magazine chose the Pony Excel as one of the 10 most ideal tools.
1990 was a very productive and successful year for Hyundai. The 4 millionth car derailed. Another important event happened in 1991: Hyundai produced its own proprietary 4-cylinder engine and gearbox. This gave the company great freedom and independence. The 4-cylinder Alpha engine was first used in the Hyundai Scoupe, which was introduced in 1992.
In the 90s, Hyundai continued its growth, taking its technology to a higher point every year. Of course, he did not neglect to develop new new models. For example, Accent, which is very popular in our country, is one of these models.
In 1994, Hyundai established a new R&D center in Germany. All innovations in the European automotive world were examined in this center, and vehicles for the European market were designed here.
In September 1997, Hyundai opened its first factory outside of South Korea in Izmit, Turkey. This was Hyundai's largest facility outside of South Korea.
Hyundai started testing electric and hybrid vehicles all the way back in the 1990s. The electric prototype of the Sonata model was designed in 1991. The hybrid FGV-1 model was introduced at the 1995 Seoul Auto Show.
Mong-Koo Chung, who became the chairman of the board of directors of the company in 1999, started to take initiatives to improve the quality of Hyundai vehicles, a price-performance product. In other words, Hyundai realized that competing with Japanese, German and Italian cars in global scale brands requires improving quality.
By the turn of the millennium, Hyundai went to refresh its image in order to market itself as a global brand. More emphasis has been placed on quality, design, production and R&D studies. The Hyundai European Design Center was established in 2001 and this center has been expanded every year.
In 2000, Hyundai launched its first SUV model, the Santa Fe. Santa Fe, the name of a city in the US state of New Mexico, attracted great attention in the USA and became the best-selling Hyundai model in the USA. In 2004, another SUV, the Tucson, was launched.
In 2007, the i30 was introduced. This model, designed entirely in Europe, is one of Hyundai's important vehicles with European influences. The following year, one of the most modern production facilities in Europe was established in the Czech Republic. This Hyundai factory in the Czech Republic has the capacity to produce 1500 vehicles per day.
The hybrid electric Hyundai Sonata was introduced with lithium polymer battery technology at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2008, and the vehicle went on sale in the USA in 2011.
In the 2010s, Hyundai began to attach great importance to environmentally friendly technologies. It took serious steps towards fuel economy and new energy technologies.
In the early 2010s, Hyundai introduced its first electric vehicle called BlueOn. BlueOn was only sold in South Korea. Equipped with a lithium polymer battery with a capacity of 16.4 kWh, the charging time of this vehicle was 6 hours.
In 2013, Hyundai added a new one to its environmentally friendly vehicles. The ix35 became the first commercially available hydrogen fuel-powered production vehicle.
In the same year, Hyundai became involved in motor sports. Participating in the World Rally Championship, Hyundai developed high-performance vehicles under the Hyundai N brand. The i30 N and i30 Fastback N models achieved serious results in the 2017-2018 World Rally Championship.
In 2016, the Hyundai IONIQ model became the world's first vehicle to be sold with three different electric motor options. This vehicle entered the market with three different versions: hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full electric. In 2016, the electric Kona and Nexo models were launched.
When we evaluate the last 5 years, we can easily say that Hyundai has positioned itself as one of the most important brands in the automotive world.
Considering that Hyundai's 50th-anniversary motto is "Next Awaits", we can say in advance that Hyundai will lean more towards electric and new fuel technologies.
In January 2019, Eisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, was elected co-chairman of the World Hydrogen Council. It is possible to understand the importance Hyundai attaches to hydrogen-based fuel technologies from here.