Seoul- In the past, Made-in-Korea cars were regarded as cheap, low-quality vehicles in overseas markets including the United States, in particular.

Hyundai Motor was no exception, with Hyundai’s Excel frequently used for crash scenes in action movies.

Some critics even cynically commented that about 29 percent of the value of Hyundai cars evaporates into thin air the moment the name Hyundai is introduced to the public at unveiling ceremonies.

These days however, the situation has completely changed.

Riding on flourishing sales in the U.S. and other foreign markets, Hyundai Motor has become the very locomotive of the still struggling economy through its brisk exports.

The role of Hyundai along with Kia Motors, which joined the nation’s largest car maker under one roof, has further heightened since its former rival Daewoo Motor was put under a workout program, unable to address the snowballing losses and make outbound shipments. Hyundai’s thriving overseas sales have largely been due to its strenuous effort to improve the quality of its vehicles.

A growing number of foreign media have begun to praise Hyundai-made cars.

Major influential papers like the Washington Post and New York Times as well as leading quality assesment institutes like J.D Power and the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have applauded the company’s vehicles.

This is in sharp contrast with one year ago when Korea cars had yet to cast off their image as cheap rides.

Consumer Reports magazine rated the Hyundai Elantra compact sedan as one of the best small cars in the United States.

Carrying a special article on the Elantra, the Los Angeles Times reported the rating underscoring how once-reviled South Korean auto makers are overcoming American buyers’ concerns about product quality.

U.S. sales of South Korean-made cars have nearly doubled in the last two years. Hyundai’s sales soared l66 percent over the period.

"The Consumer Reports review is excellent news for us and reflects the progress the brand has made," the paper said quoting Finbarr O’Neill, president and chief executive of Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America.

The magazine ranked th 200l Elantra GLS higher than the Volkswagen Jetta GLS 2.0, Nissan Sentra GXE, Toyota Corolla LE, Dodge Neon ES and Saturn SLs2, among others.

Only four vehicles, including the limited-production Toyota Prius hybrid, outscored the Hyundai and none but the top-ranked Ford Focus bested the car’s overall rating of "very good."

Hyundai Motor’s Santa Fe recently ranked on top in a U.S. agency’s crash worthiness survey of l0 small sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

The New York Times in its April 22 issue said Hyundai has successfully thrown off its image as the maker of low-priced automotive vehicles, aggressively jumping into the U.S. market of medium-sized cars.

It cited Hyundai’s presentation of the XG300 and Kia’s Optima was very successful.

"We made a considerable progress in terms of quality improvement since we began to explore the U.S. market at full throttle starting last year," said a Hyundai official.

Major brands of Hyundai and Kia including the Avante XD, Santa Fe, XG300 and Optima, scored high marks in various crash tests with some of them topping the list.

Hyundai Motor recently conducted a blind test, (brand names not attached to vehicle) inviting U.S. auto experts while introducing its XG300, in the U.S. market.

The experts submitted $35,000 as the appropriate price for a XG300, more than $7,000 than the actual price.

Self-confident of its quality, Hyundai Motor came up with a new marketing tactic guaranteeing after-service for l0 years for driving not more than l00,000 miles.

Hyundai has invested more than l trillion won in the development of new models over the past several years.

"It has been company chairman Chung Mong-koo’s management principle that without efforts toward quality improvement, there can be no progress in sales performance," he said.

Hyundai is now moving to advance into the Japanese market, which has been considered a very difficult market for foreign car makers including domestic manufacturers as well.