If someone told you back in 1986 that the company behind the cheap, breakdown-prone Hyundai Excel would someday rank as the world’s third-largest automaker, you’d think they were crazy. But that’s exactly what happened. Hyundai’s rise from industry laughingstock to automotive giant stands as one of the most impressive business turnarounds in modern history.

• Hyundai was the third-largest automaker in 2024, selling 7.23 million vehicles combined with its sister brand Kia.
• In the late 1980s and 1990s, Hyundai cars suffered ridicule in America for being cheap and low quality, with the Excel becoming notorious for reliability problems.
• Hyundai announced $21 billion in U.S. manufacturing investments through 2028, more than doubling what it invested in the previous 40 years.

The Excel Disaster That Almost Killed the Brand

Hyundai Motor America began selling cars in the United States on February 20, 1986, with a single model, the Hyundai Excel, and that year set a record by selling 168,882 vehicles. The $4,995 price tag made it irresistible to budget-conscious buyers. Fortune magazine even named it “Best Product #10.”

But the honeymoon didn’t last. Cost-cutting measures caused reliability to suffer, and owners started reporting all sorts of mechanical problems. Engines failed early. Door panels fell apart. Hyundai became the butt of many jokes, with people saying the name stood for “Hope you understand nothing’s driveable and inexpensive”. By the early 1990s, most of those first Excels had already been scrapped.

With an increasingly poor reputation for quality, Hyundai sales plummeted, and many dealerships either earned their profits on repairs or abandoned the product. The brand seemed destined to follow Yugoslavia’s Yugo into automotive obscurity.

The Long Road to Redemption

Rather than give up, Hyundai decided to fix what was broken. The company began investing heavily in quality, design, manufacturing, and long-term research of its vehicles. They added free maintenance programs and later introduced the industry-shifting 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty that forced people to take another look at the brand.

By 2004, sales had jumped significantly, and Hyundai tied with Honda for initial brand quality in a survey from J.D. Power and Associates, for having 102 problems per 1000 vehicles, making Hyundai second in the industry, only behind Toyota. The transformation was real.

The company kept pushing forward with better designs and improved engineering. Models like the Sonata, Elantra, and Santa Fe started winning awards. The launch of the Genesis luxury brand in 2009 showed Hyundai could compete at the premium level too.

Standing Tall Among the Giants

Today’s Hyundai looks nothing like that struggling company from the 1980s. In 2024, Volkswagen ranked second with 9.03 million units sold, and Hyundai followed with 7.23 million units, securing third place for three consecutive years after rising from fifth in 2022. Only Toyota sells more vehicles globally.

The lineup has expanded dramatically. Whether you’re shopping for an efficient hybrid, a fully electric Ioniq model, or a family SUV like the popular Hyundai Palisade 2025, the brand offers something for every buyer. Hyundai Motor Group’s Hyundai and Kia brands rack up awards for new EV and hybrid vehicles.

The company posted its highest-ever first-quarter revenue in 2025, with sales of electrified models including hybrids jumping 38.4% year-over-year. That growth shows no signs of slowing down.

What’s Driving Success Now

Hyundai’s current strategy centers on electrification, manufacturing expansion, and staying ahead of market shifts. Hyundai plans to double its hybrid lineup to 14 models by 2030 and expand beyond compact and mid-size cars into luxury vehicles.

The U.S. market has become particularly important. Despite continued uncertainties about interest rates and global inflation, Hyundai Motor saw strong sales momentum in the North American market. Smart investments in American manufacturing help protect the company from tariff risks while creating jobs.

The three auto brands in the automaker’s stable, Hyundai, Kia and Genesis, are nipping at the heels of well-established competitors, winning awards and changing consumer perceptions with every new model release.

From Zero to Hero Status

The story of Hyundai’s turnaround offers lessons for any business facing a damaged reputation. Quality can’t be faked or rushed. Building trust takes years of consistent improvement. And sometimes the companies that fall the hardest work the most to get back up.

Think about how far they’ve come. From cars that barely made it to 50,000 miles to winning J.D. Power quality awards. From one model in one market to selling millions of vehicles across the globe. From industry joke to serious competitor that keeps Toyota and Volkswagen looking over their shoulders.

That transformation didn’t happen by accident. It took billions in investment, cultural change, better engineering, smarter design, and a commitment to proving the doubters wrong. Hyundai stuck with it when most companies would have packed up and gone home.

The Excel may be long gone, but the company that built it has become something nobody expected back in 1986, a genuine global automotive powerhouse that other manufacturers have to respect.