That certainly is an interesting view of America… or Americans.

I don’t know. I think Honda is doing a pretty marvelous job of handing out high-paid employment to folks in the South while making quality cars.

Then there are those of us, who just don’t care about other people’s employment, blue-collared or otherwise, and want to enjoy our luxury vehicles for what they are.

I think I’ll stick to Lexus and Infiniti cars for now. I suppose if I wanted to drive Hyundai’s intead, I’d have stayed in Korea.

I was referring to manufacturing awards, given by engineering and industrial technology associations. Google “Tahara Kyushu Lexus” you’ll see what I mean. Or maybe you won’t. You seem pretty stupid.

Gamers? In Japan, there are people who haven’t stepped outside of their house for years, b/c they’re addicted to gaming and other reasons. We all know what American teenagers are like…not as bad as those Japanese…but…you know. Cuz you were one of them and I’ve lived you guys.

Senior citizens. Compared to the U.S. who practically leaves all their parents in foster homes, Korea has a much much lower percentage of people who leave their parents in foster homes. The sons and daughters take care of their parents in a more real way…meaning everyday life things as well. The senior citizens here don’t need the internet. Booking flights? Getting information? Anything they need… That’s just how the culture and society here is. Of course times are changing and yeah, there’s cons as well as pros. But in respect to your “scoff at the notion of Korea being a highly wired society” this is the pro.

Whatever the purpose of using the Internet, getting information, reading blogs of someone halfway around the world, gaming w/ someone halfway around the world, cyworld, etc.

The point is: You know more about the world, your country, information is spread, distributed fast and freely. People are more aware of the world that we live in… even at a very subconscious level(i.e. just playing a game with a French kid and a Japanese kid).

That was for Mizar.

As for the original subject.

Hyundai is feeding thousands (they have families to feed…so multiply that number by about 4) of middle class, lower middle class, blue collar red-blooded American workers in the United States.

The more Hyundai succeeds more Americans have a chance to live a better, higher quality life.

Hyundai…wants co-prosperity, (as is the Korean mentality when doing business…I won’t get into the oil business). Let’s all(Americans and Koreans and others who wants a job and who wants Hyundai to succeed) work hard, make some goddamn money, move up the f*ckin’ social ladder, pat ourselves on our goddamn backs, retire and f$ckin’ thank Hyundai for risking their asses on rednecks like us and giving us a chance to live like men again.

Everyone knows how hard Koreans work.
We’ve seen them take chances on rednecks.

So, just why is Hyundai going to this extent?

They want a m*th#$f*$kin’ honest chance. They worked hard…why? To deliver when that chance comes.

So if you’re an American…and you want your fellow blue-collared American to have a chance to get his racist, redneck ass out of the current sh*thole he’s in and live a better quality life….then you had better shut up and give Hyundai an honest chance.

Awards? JD Powers to name one?

http://www.jdpa.com/news/relea.....ID=2004037

Just google it before making a imperative statement that “uuhh.. I don’t know…but since I’m a biased f*$k I’m just gonna state as a fact that they got no awards…uhh..cuz they can’t get no awards…uh…cuz they’re Hyundai…dude”

Man…I can’t believe I had to copy and paste a link in here just to prove a point.

In other words, quantity is there but not quality of information. A tool is only as good as its use.

As for quality cars, yes, I’ve heard that quality is improving but this did seem extraordinarily unlikely considering the inattention to detail that we are famous for. In other words, this is a surprising delveopment bt a welcome one and, regardless of exceptional examples like this, the perception problem remains well-founded.

Your point is taken. Korea has possibilities that should not just be written off. And mine is as well - once achieved they are often short-lived and difficult to sustain.

In other words, in 1992 or 1993, the government agency was helping lay out the on-line infrastructure and patterns of use we see today. It all seemed very implausible to the people I was discussing this with.

Korea being a top-ranked wired society; Hyundai or other automakers making quality, reliable cars… I heard these and other similar developments being scoffed at and I watched them come to fruition. I have high hopes for Hyundai being able to make luxury vehicles.

First of all, although it sounds impressive, I’m not quite sure what “information-oriented country” is supposed to mean. Is this another meaningless Kanglish term like “ubiquitism” instead of “interconnectivity” or “reform” in place of “home improvement”? Given such profound problems in the sphere of communication and logic, I’m wondering whether we’re talking about babble or information.

At any rate, can Korea become “one of the most information-oriented countries in the world” anytime near the end of the decade, which is only 4 years away, given the profound state of its communication issues today? I don’t know, but then, I don’t even know what information-oriented means. Does this mean that other nations simply have little use for information? Does it mean that Korea creates or transmits more information? Are we talking about quantity or quality of information?

Pehaps this refers to another of those meaningless statistics like most broadband subscribers, etc. As you know Koreans are fond of phrases like “best in the world” and “one of the best”, and little ever comes of such dramatic pronouncements, so it’s only natural and proper to exhibit some skepticism.

Why should asking hard questions be characterized as “Korea can do no right.” Korea certainly can do things right. The problem is that it is also in the habit of making major blunders that can negate what was done right.

“Seems to me, from what I’ve heard, they said the same thing about Honda and Toyota back when they were first thinking about this.”

I don’t recall anyone having said that about Honda and Toyota. I also don’t believe that they are actually considered luxury cars. Honda is famous for its no-frills durability, for instance, but hardly luxury.

But there are huge image barriers aside from technical ones.

I am a big booster of Lexus and Infiniti cars. I own a couple of them at the moment. Lexus has that whole “serenity” and “sense of separation from the road” thing beaten to a pulp. Infiniti does the whole European motorist joy thing well — ONLY with much higher reliability.

Yet, even these two stellar brands (Infiniti’s M35/45, for example, is now heralded as meeting or exceeding European “peformance” by some auto magazines) encounter a lot of prejudice from European-is-best crowd.

You shove reliability surveys, performance ratings and other data on their faces. They’ll respond with “European cars have soul. Japanese cars don’t” (see this entry in my blog).

Since this is purely based on emotions, it’s much hard to disarm than competition based on factual information.

Unfortunately, a good part of the luxury segment of the car market is made up of people like this.

Now if Lexus and Infiniti, perhaps some of the best built cars in the world, are having this kind of trouble still from luxury motor enthusiasts, what kind of reception do you think Hyundai will get?

And this is assuming, in the first place, that Hyundai WILL be able to close the huge chasm of gulf that exists in quality between its cars and the best luxury cars in the world.

Tell us then. What comparative advantage will Hyundai/S. Korea utilize to achieve this looming induction into manufacturing superiority?

Truth told the auto business is shit. It’s dirty and dumb and I’m glad this low-skilled suck on the US economy may be drawing to a close so we can allocate our resources to more productive and profitable endeavors.

If Korea is lucky (and I think they are) they will leap frog this phase and focus on becoming an intellectual and service oriented power rather than getting wrapped up in bending metal. Korea’s potential is above that of world class “car maker” in my opinion. But if that’s the scope of your predictions for a highly educated and capitalized country you must really doubt its people more than I doubt Hyundai. Happy driving twit.