| If you live in North America, you likely are now | | | | Motors produced cars made primarily from |
| very familiar with the Hyundai line of vehicles. | | | | Japanese components. Hyundai's influence |
| Back in 1986, the first Hyundai was introduced to | | | | stretched far beyond the Korean peninsula as the |
| the market - an Excel - and the company's line up | | | | company won contracts to build an expressway |
| has changed dramatically since that time. Hyundai | | | | in Thailand and a major port in Saudi Arabia. |
| produces much more than cars; in fact, by the | | | | Clearly, Hyundai dominated the Korean market |
| end of the last century Hyundai became one of | | | | and quickly became a major player on the |
| the largest companies in the world. Let's take a | | | | international scene. |
| look at this Korean based multinational corporation | | | | By the 1970s Hyundai began to build vessels as |
| and the company behind Hyundai vehicles. | | | | well as shipyards and by 1986 Hyundai produced |
| It was back in 1946, just one year removed | | | | its first vehicle made entirely from Korean |
| from Imperial Japan's occupation of the Korean | | | | components. From the 1980s forward Hyundai |
| peninsula, that a new company was birthed in | | | | added additional specialties including the building of |
| what is now known as South Korea. Hyundai | | | | semiconductors and magnetic levitation trains. |
| Motor Industrial Company was founded by Chung | | | | All hasn't been glossy for the company, however. |
| Ju-yung, a child of northern Korean peasant | | | | Decades of labor problems culminating in new |
| farmers, and in 1947 Ju-yung launched a second | | | | employee safety standards put in place from the |
| company, Hyundai Civil Industries. Self educated, | | | | 1990s on, tempered the Hyundai mystique. |
| Ju-yung transformed the entire Korean economy | | | | Indeed, up to that time the company was cited |
| with the tight control he exerted over his Hyundai | | | | for having the worst safety standards of any |
| companies. | | | | corporation in the industrialized world. |
| The first Hyundai business was tasked with | | | | Cars were another source of problems for what |
| building automobiles while the second Hyundai | | | | became known as the Hyundai Group. Although |
| company concentrated on construction. Indeed, | | | | now manufacturing their own vehicles, the quality |
| much of modern South Korea's infrastructure | | | | of Hyundai vehicles for the first decade was |
| was built by Hyundai in the period after the | | | | considered by automobile experts to be sub-par. |
| cessation of the Korean War in 1953 and on | | | | Today, Hyundai vehicles and Hyundai parts are, |
| through the 1970s. Dams, an expressway, a | | | | for the most part, slightly above average in |
| shipbuilding yard, and a nuclear power plant were | | | | quality compared to the industry as a whole. |
| all built by Hyundai Civil Industries, while Hyundai | | | | |