Consumer Reports USA 2008 Top Picks: Honda Accord, Hyundai Sante Fe & Elantra!

[C6H12O6]

i would have liked to see honda civic in the lineup instead of hundai elantra.
hyundai have come a long way but they are still far from really good IMHO.

[Gangsta]

24th March , 2008
Prestigious US ‘Consumer Reports’ Names Hyundai Santa Fe and Elantra as Best in Category

New Delhi, March 24, 2008: The Hyundai Elantra SE was adjudged the world’s top small sedan and the Hyundai Santa Fe the global best among mid-sized SUVs in the Annual Auto Issue of the prestigious Consumer Reports magazine.

Apart from the above, the Hyundai Tucson SE (V6) and the Hyundai Sonata GLS (4-cyl) & SE (V6) also feature in the list of Best Vehicles. Alongside, the luxury sedan Hyundai Azera was rated as the most satisfying drive by its owners, who based their vote on factors like price, performance, reliability, comfort, and enjoyment, among others.

Hyundai also ranked above Volvo, Mitsubishi, Ford, General Motors, Suzuki and Chrysler in an overall survey.

Commenting on the findings, Mr H S Lheem, Managing Director, HMI said, “This is deeply satisfying, especially as the Consumer Reports surveys are highly respected for their total objectivity and the process of evaluation is one of the most demanding. The endorsement of our products by a body like this speaks volumes for our quality and the reliability we offer.”

The Hyundai Santa Fe, a leader in the auto market in the USA, has been described as providing “a quiet and roomy interior, excellent fit and finish, a refined powertrain, a relatively good ride and an optional third row seat.” The Santa Fe was displayed by HMI during the Auto Expo 2008 in New Delhi in January this year to evaluate the response of the showgoers as well as the dealers and as expected it drew an overwhelming response in terms of size, fit, finish and build quality.

Consumer Reports conducts more than 50 individual tests on stringent parameters for reliability, performance, fuel economy, safety, ergonomics, comfort, interior fit and finish and overall road-worthiness and consumer satisfaction.

The Consumer Reports ratings differ from all the other auto reviewers in that, for its Annual Auto Issue, the magazine:

* Buys its own test cars;
* Drives the test vehicles thousands of miles over several months;
* Puts each vehicle through more than 50 individual tests and evaluations;
* Has experienced automotive engineers and their support staff evaluate each test car at a 327-acre Auto Test Centre;
* Bases the reliability ratings on the problems identified through the Annual Car Reliability Survey, which involves collation of data for more than 1.3 million vehicles; and
* Accepts no advertisements.

About HMIL

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea and is the second largest and the fastest growing car manufacturer in India. HMIL presently markets 34 variants of passenger cars across segments. The Santro in the B segment, Getz Prime, i10 in the B+ segment, the Accent and Verna in the C segment, the Elantra in the D segment, the Sonata Embera in the E segment and the Tucson in the SUV segment.

HMIL’s fully integrated state-of-the-art manufacturing plant near Chennai boast the most advanced production, quality and testing capabilities in the country. In continuation of its commitment to provide the Indian customer with global technology, HMIL is setting up its second plant, which will produce an additional 300,000 units per annum, raising HMIL’s total production capacity to 600,000 units per annum.

HMIL is investing to expand capacity in line with its positioning as HMC’s global export hub for compact cars. Apart from expansion of production capacity, HMIL plans to expand its dealer network, which will be increased from 230 to 300 this year.

The year 2007 has been a significant year for Hyundai Motor India. It achieved a significant milestone by rolling out the fastest 400,000th export car. Hyundai exports to over 73 countries globally; even as it plans to continue its thrust in existing export markets, it is gearing up to step up its foray into new markets. The year just ended also saw Hyundai Motor India attaining other milestones with the launch of the i10 and yet another path-breaking record in its young journey by rolling out the fastest 15,00,000th car.

The Hyundai Verna has bagged some of the most prestigious awards starting with the title of "Car of the Year 2007" by India&lsquos leading automotive publication – Overdrive, the “Best Mid-size Car of the Year” award by the NDTV Profit C&B Awards 2007, the “Best Value for Money Car” by the CNBC Autocar Auto awards and ‘Performance Car of the Year 2007’ from Business Standard Motoring.

Last Year Sonata Embera won the ‘Executive Car of The Year 2006’ award from Business Standard Motoring Magazine and NDTV Profit – Car & Bike declared the Tucson as the ‘SUV of The Year 2006’. HMIL has also been awarded the benchmark ISO 14001 certification for its sustainable environment management practices.


Source:
Prestigious US ?Consumer Reports? Names Hyundai Santa Fe and Elantra as Best in Category

[ram_hyundai]

Hyundai wins one or the other awards in the us every year.They had elantra and the sonata as best entry level midsegment car a few years before.
ram

[theMAG]

Hyundai really has come a long way since their entry into US when their cars were apparently famous for catching fires on highways and were therefore slapped by multi-million dollar class-action lawsuits (told to me by a senior colleague who was in the US at the time). Their quality levels and maturity has come of age and their current day ownership experience equals if not beats some of the big guns from Japan or Europe.

[mail4ajo]

Nice to hear about this for the US market. What does it mean for India? This just looks like a press release to build image in India.

Will they or can they ever match the reliability, performance, safety, ergonomics, comfort, interior fit and finish that they offer in the US market. (I have excluded FE, we are better)

I had a chance to drive a Camry and a Highlander. I was told that Camry's are absolutely reliable till 150000 miles. My jaws dropped. Why dont we get that in India? Its just not the price.

[Steeroid]

All that this press release means is that the Elantra and the Santa Fe are expected to be launched very soon in India.

Bring it on, Hyundai - that Santa Fe is one very impressive vehicle, though the Elantra looks rather boring even if it has won awards everywhere (including in the Middle East, for the first time )

[1100D]

Consumer complaints about Hyundai

Please use your own discretion.

[tsk1979]

Santa Fe is not coming to India as Hyundai can't price it below 19 lakh

[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Consumer complaints about Hyundai

Please use your own discretion.

Lets face it, we cannot expect Hyundai to be as reliable as a Honda or Toyota.

Most of the cars with issues mentioned on this site is over 50000 miles. But majority of cars in the US are reliable atleast till 100000 miles. Also, I didnt see any Santa Fe mentioned.

[Mayavi]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

All that this press release means is that the Elantra and the Santa Fe are expected to be launched very soon in India.

Isn't Elantra already launched in India, as Verna?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Mayavi

Isn't Elantra already launched in India, as Verna?

New Accent is launched in India as the Verna.

Elantra available in India was the older one, and i guess it has been discontinued too.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

Lets face it, we cannot expect Hyundai to be as reliable as a Honda or Toyota.

Most of the cars with issues mentioned on this site is over 50000 miles. But majority of cars in the US are reliable atleast till 100000 miles. Also, I didnt see any Santa Fe mentioned.

Reliable in some cases upto 200000 miles. Wear and tear on US roads/traffic is quite low as compared to India. A 100,000 mile car would exhibit similar wear as a 50-60k (km) in India.

However in recent times, even Honda reliability is on a decline. A friend bought a 2007 Civic a few days back and had a problem on his vehicle. Toyota still managed to keep their reputation intact.

[Gangsta]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

Lets face it, we cannot expect Hyundai to be as reliable as a Honda or Toyota.

Most of the cars with issues mentioned on this site is over 50000 miles. But majority of cars in the US are reliable atleast till 100000 miles. Also, I didnt see any Santa Fe mentioned.

You know what mate? You are right. Hyundai's Quality is not bad either.
They are very much VFM if we compare Hyundai vs Honda vs Toyota.

My Accent 2003 model GLS DOHC with ABS had done around 80k KM. Fast driving, Sometimes Rude Driving. CNG Installed at 26k KM and i stopped using it at 70k KM.
I faced just 2 problems till now:
1. Oxygen Sensor (thanx to CNG)
2. Suspension problems (thanx to Indian Roads and CNG cyl in the boot).

If i have to ran my car for 100-150 km a day then i ran my car 20 km on petrol and rest on CNG. regular services done after every 6-7k KM.

Still the car is very much responsive. Inspite of such wear and tear, Car is running perfectly. No Engine Problems, No rattling thing.

Now, 2nd car i have of Hyundai, Elantra CRDi 2005. Done 35k KM. No Problems at all. Car is very torquish and power and giving mileage of 15 kmpl in cities and 19 on highways., and can touch 200 kmph mark easily.
Goodies in the car:
ABS + TCS + BAS + EBD + Airbags + 4 Discs
How many Honda cars have all these features? NONE.
How many Toyota cars in india have all these features? NONE. Not even camry i think.
If they are giving such safety features, powerful engine, reliability and stability at such low price compared with Civic or Corolla or Accord with good quality not good as honda or toyota but not bad either.
Everybody have their own choice, i love raw looking cars many of them like shiney cars.
I have midnight grey Elantra with chrome grills, black tints. Oh man! it looks a Raw Evil Killer showing its teeth, as chrome grill and giving an Evilish Smile. Come on man i'm gonna eat you. Now saving money for pete's and few other mods.

My both the Hyundai Cars are running with Zero Problems.
People also goes for the brand name too. One of my cousin wanted to buy Honda City, i asked him why you wanna go for Honda City why not Verna Diesel? Guess what he told me, Honda City is a Honda, Much powerful than any Hyundai Car no matter if it is a Verna Diesel. and another friend is a big big maruti fan. He owns a Swift. Clutch Changed twice in 60K km, Rattling problems but he is still satisfied and said, this problem occurs in every car no matter if its toyota or skoda. This guy always ask me to go for SX4, Just because it is a maruti suzuki product. lol

My 100th Post hehe

Originally Posted by Mayavi

Isn't Elantra already launched in India, as Verna?

Na, It was Accent in U.S launched as Verna in India.
Now, New Elantra 2007 in U.S will be launching in India as Avante.

[srishiva]

Good for Hyundai. Its deserving for Santa Fe which edged out Honda Pilot. The Elantra had the advantage of having ESC as standard compared to Civic and Mazda. Reliability has to be at or above average for these top picks. Did price also play a part in this ?

Not one German car in the list !

[C6H12O6]

i am still not sure how CR rated them. I rented a v6 sonata to drive down to VA Beach and I was like dude give me a Civic DX. To me the Civic is so much of a better car in all aspect. Yes, the new huyandai(s) are getting better looking and improving but still no where near the refinement i am expecting from these cars.