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I believe the sort of sentiment that I introduced in the previous post equally applies when one chooses which car to get. Back in America, the automobile industry wasn’t all that simple: you’d see their domestic brands dominating the streets, mixed with a great number of Japanese cars, slightly fewer Europeans—and to my surprise—ones from our neighbors, South Korea.
I had never—and I mean ever—seen a single car from a South Korean manufacturer before I moved to the United States. It really was eye-opening. Some of my Japanese friends looked down on them, calling them nothing but a collective rip-off of our own. But as I recall, the Japanese never invented the automobile, nor were we the first ones to successfully mass-produce it for commercial use. Several decades earlier, we used to bear the same label for copying Americans. (In uncalled-for defense, I would like to state that the Japanese did so—but in a much smaller, thriftier and more reliable package.) Everyone gets upset when there’s a new (and successful) kid on the block, it seems.
But all this fact checking just goes out the window when you’re extremely successful. Such is the case for the Korean brands of today. As an avid automobile fan, it’s both unnerving and exciting to see these Korean cars slowly but surely creeping their way into the market; even in Europe, where competition is only tougher for any Asian carmaker. I see more coverage of their latest models in my favorite car magazine. Not only that, but some of their sportier ones are receiving positive reviews.
To be continued…
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