this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
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I am a car guy (kind of) and Hyundai’s products in the west do not have a good reputation.
Plastics everywhere, unreliable engines, locking stuff behind software walls and just planned obsolescence in general.
Like, to change the rear brakes, you’ve got to disconnect the battery, take apart the parking brake motor, and manually retract the parking brake. Otherwise, you have to buy a subscription to their diagnostics software.
Their engines are direct injection only with the water pump inside the engine. That means carbon buildup on the intake side, and a repair exceeding the cost of the car later on.
Plastic valve covers and oil pans means warping under heat, cracks, and leakage. But it also means you can 3D print your own parts.
Hyundais are disposable, not repairable. Doesn’t matter if they’ve got an advanced factory if they design their shit to fail.
I know nothing about Hyundai. You're probably right in your criticism. Also it's not a Chinese brand anyway. The point of this is more to show what manufacturing in China's automotive sector looks like. China's own car brands use very similar or even more advanced factories. The point is that China has an integrated industrial ecosystem unlike any other in the world, with tons of talent, research and development, their own supply chains and highly efficient logistics, which is why they can manufacture at such a scale.
Yea, that's probably why Hyundai set up shop there.