Hyundai Motors Group (HMG) has attributed its harvest of several awards and accolades in Nigeria and the rest of the world to significant advances in Research and Development over recent years.
This was contained in a media statement released by the automaker on Tuesday.
“During the year,” it recalled, “Hyundai brand gained multiple recognitions by the world’s most respected journalists to secure a multitude of top automotive, technology and design honors, confirming the company’s growing reputation as a leader in the move to sustainable mobility.”
Most recent were top honours from the 2021 Nigerian Auto Industry Awards organized by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA), where Hyundai Creta won the Nigerian Car of the Year (COTY) award, defeating Toyota Corolla and Kia Rio.
And Kona was crowned as Nigeria’s Electric Car of the Year.
Significantly, Hyundai Motors began 2021 with a win for Elantra at the prestigious North American Car of the Year awards.
Recognition from one of the UK’s biggest car magazines, Auto Express, soon followed: readers voted the Hyundai Kona the UK’s ‘Best Car to Own’ in the Driver Power survey, and the New Car Awards saw Hyundai dominate in six categories, including ‘Car of the Year’ for the all-electric IONIQ 5.
The IONIQ 5 also won favor with judges to win the German ‘Car of the Year’ awards.
Also, recently, Hyundai i20 N was named overall ‘Car of the Year’ at the BBC Top Gear annual awards, outperforming models from some of the world’s most exotic and exclusive brands. The turbocharged i20 N was also heralded as the industry’s ‘Best Hot Hatch’ by various publications and awards organizations in 2021 – including Auto Express, Car Buyer and Scottish Car of the Year.
That wasn’t all. Hyundai Motor was honored with ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ at the BBC Top Gear awards.
Awards for industry-leading quality and safety
Adding to the many awards from world-renowned automotive titles, the work of Hyundai Motors in the important fields of quality and safety has consistently been recognized by leading industry analysts and organizations.
One of the most-rewarded automotive groups by nonprofit organization Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the group has 28 IIHS award-winning vehicles between its brands, with 12 coming from Hyundai.
Hyundai brands have also enjoyed much success at the various J.D. Power awards in 2021. In the J.D. Power Tech Experience Study, Hyundai secured the position of ‘Highest Ranked Mass Market Brand’.
Genesis also picked up several J.D. Power trophies this year, including the winner of the ‘Midsize Premium Car’ for the G80 in the Vehicle Dependability Study; Best Upper Midsize Premium Car in the Initial Quality Study for G80; and overall brand winners with a Top Innovation Index Score of 634 in the U.S. Tech Experience Index Study.
2022: the potential for more to come
Several further nominations for upcoming awards are set to be decided early next year. Despite having only been on sale for a relatively short amount of time, Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 has reached the final shortlist for the prestigious ‘European Car of the Year’ award.
Finalists for the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year were announced at last month’s AutoMobility LA and include the Hyundai Santa Cruz as one of three finalists for ‘North American Truck of the Year’, and the Genesis GV70 and Hyundai IONIQ 5 as two of the three finalists in the ‘North American Utility Vehicle of the Year’.
Commenting, Albert Biermann, President and Head of R&D Division at Hyundai Motor Group, attributed the harvest of awards to the company’s significant advances in R&D over recent years.
He said: “I am immensely proud of the achievements of the Hyundai Motor Group in 2021. It has been a challenging year in various ways, but our enthusiasm and commitment to providing excellent products for our customers have paid off, and every single one of these awards will drive us even stronger to exceed our customers’ expectations. We have made significant advances in R&D over recent years, and our award-winning electrified products are the physical embodiment of that expertise, strategy and investment.”
“We will never be complacent, but are confident that we have built solid foundations for further success in the coming years, made possible by competitive and innovative new products across the Group along with our continued joint focus on new forms of mobility,” he added.
Also reacting after the Nigerian auto industry awards, Mr. Gaurav Vashisht, Head, Sales and Marketing at Hyundai Motors Nigeria described Creta and Kona’s top awards as a testimony of the brand’s core vision of always developing high-quality vehicles.
“With innovation at its core,” he pointed out, “Hyundai is committed to continuously making global quality cars with cutting edge technologies and fortifying the Hyundai brand, caring for our customers in Nigeria and globally.”
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