Angus MacKenzie: The Big Picture

Here's why Hyundai is the world's hottest automaker. Look out, Japan.

- Angus MacKenzie

Hyundai is on fire right now. Its growth has been steady and relentless for decades, following a path well worn by Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, and Mitsubishi. It's easy to think we've seen it all before-and we have. Mostly. But Hyundai Motor Group's next chapter looks strikingly different from that of its Japanese rivals.

At the absolute height of their power, Japan's automakers had the world at their feet. GM and Ford and Chrysler were stumbling and failing as customers they once took for granted switched to buying cheaper Japanese imports that were better equipped and more reliable.

Japanese cars had, for the same reasons, all but forced Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, and Volkswagen to abandon markets outside of Europe.

At the 1989 Tokyo auto show, strolling past cars like the Lexus LS400, Honda NSX, Z32 Nissan 300ZX, Subaru SVX, Mazda Miata, and Mitsubishi Eclipse, it was easy to believe the Japanese were masters of the automotive universe. But Japan Inc. blew it. Today, only Toyota is considered a Japanese automotive superpower, propelled by the same inertia that kept GM at the top decades after it ceased to be a benchmark carmaker.