The Hyundai
line of vehicles just like Benz, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Honda are now
very common in Nigeria, hardly would you count 10 vehicles on the road and not notice
a Hyundai brand among them. Before now there is the phobia for vehicles whose
maker or name is sparsely unknown, the common brand of Automobiles seen on
Nigerian roads remains the Toyota, Honda, Benz, VW, Nissan and the moribund Peugeot
cars. Back in 1986, the first Hyundai was introduced to the market and the
company’s line-up has changed spectacularly since that time. Hyundai produces
much more than cars; in fact, by the end of the last century Hyundai became one
of the largest companies in the world. Let’s take a look at this Korean based
multinational corporation and the company behind Hyundai vehicles.
It was back
in 1946, just one year removed from Imperial Japan’s occupation of the Korean
peninsula, that a new company was birthed in what is now known as South Korea.
Hyundai Motor Industrial Company was founded by Chung Ju-yung, a child of
northern Korean peasant farmers, and in 1947 Ju-yung launched a second company,
Hyundai Civil Industries. Self educated, Ju-yung transformed the entire Korean
economy with the tight control he exerted over his Hyundai companies.
The first
Hyundai business was tasked with building automobiles while the second Hyundai Company
concentrated on construction. Indeed, much of modern South Korea’s
infrastructure was built by Hyundai in the period after the cessation of the
Korean War in 1953 and on through the 1970s. Dams, an expressway, a
shipbuilding yard, and a nuclear power plant were all built by Hyundai Civil
Industries, while Hyundai Motors produced cars made primarily from Japanese
components. Hyundai’s influence stretched far beyond the Korean peninsula as
the company won
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