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I think about this sometimes.
For the Japanese, it has a lot to do with when they hit the market and that they did a lot to keep customers happy while continually improving quality. In the mid-70s, Toyota had a problem with cylinderr heads. The alloy was soft and the valves were pounding out the seats. Cars were needing new heads at 30K. So they simply gave every car that had a head problem a new head. No questions asked. Happy customers.
Flash forward to 1977 to 1980 and VW of America. They had heads with bad valve seals. Some cars were using a quart every 200 miles. VW said, "It is normal for our engines to use oil." And they gave out decals to put on the gas flap door reminding the pump jockey or car owner to check the oil. After a while, they did a recall and had valve seals replaced. But by then a lot fo previously loyal VW owners had gone away---many to Toyota, Datsun (then) or Honda.
American car makers just kept building junk back then.
That's one way to see some differences. ( I can go on and on with this, having worked for VWoA back then)
As for BMW, I think a lot of it is pure marketing (The Ultimate Driving Machine!), which is amazing coming from Germany, which is not noted for strong marketing. But they have built strong cars, that have style, handle well and are nice at high speed, and built a rep around performance. They still live off that, even though other cars are now similarly capable. But consistent marketing that built an image has really made BMW. Similarly, Mercedes and Porsche had a long heritage, some of it in racing, and have leveraged that.
But to answer your question, I have little doubt that Hyundai will equal or surpasss the 2nd tier Japanese cars and be seen as an equivalent to Toyota and Honda. The are there in some ways, but they need more of a track record to get consumer confidence.
Just my .05 (more may follow) 8^)
N
posted by 24.52.16...
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