September 29, 2024 is now a very significant date for the Hyundai Motor Company. It was the day the South Korean automaker reached a major production milestone with 100,000,000 vehicles built since the late ‘60s.
That achievement was reached in less than 60 years, making Hyundai one of the fastest growing automakers of all time. If you consider the fact that the company only started exporting cars in the late-‘70s, it shows just how rapid Hyundai grew.
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The Hyundai Motor Company was established in December 29, 1967. It first started out by building European Ford models for South Korea with the lineup consisting of the Cortina, Taunus, the D Series truck and R Series bus, and later on, the Granada. But it was in the mid-70s where Hyundai would build the first homegrown South Korean car, the Pony.
Exports began in 1976 and Hyundai eventually parted ways with Ford in the ‘80s. It was also that decade that saw the expansion of the in-house developed range. These included the Excel, Sonata, Grandeur, and more.
Hyundai’s stock went even higher in the ‘90s with a wider product lineup and successfully establishing a reputation for building solid runabouts with good value. A technical partnership with Mitsubishi also helped the company boost its development knowhow. It even weathered the storm of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and even purchased Kia along the way.
The 2000s saw Hyundai grow even more, gaining significant traction in the European market. The automaker was then able to get talents from around the world to push them to greater heights in the 2010s. Today, Hyundai is one of the leaders in the design, engineering, and the development of electric vehicles.
Hyundai didn’t say what the 100,000,000th vehicle it produced. However, it did reveal its 100,000,001st car, a black Ioniq 5. Hyundai even invited its owner to drive it straight off the assembly line. Lucky, we say, and we hope he never sells it.
What's next for Hyundai? The company will double down on hybrids and plug-in hybrids in the coming years. At the same time, it will continue its efforts in the field of electric vehicles. More recently, it formed an alliance with General Motors and share vehicle research and development.
