Luxury cars find a new home beneath the waves

[dArKeR]

Singapore - A ship carrying 4 000 cars sank after colliding with an oil tanker south of Singapore, port officials said on Sunday.

The collision between the oil tanker Mount Kaminesan, which was loaded with 279 949 tons of crude oil, and car carrier MV Hyundai 105 occurred on Saturday just before midnight, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement.

"All the cars sank. But there is no spill (of crude oil) from the tanker," said MPA spokesperson Theresa Pong.

A Hyundai official, Lee Joon-seok, told Reuters that all 4 000 automobiles were its exports, adding they would be covered by accident insurance at Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance Company.

http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=qw1085302441620B252&set_id=1

[Kenneth ken]

1. a rare win-win situation

all the cars sank, none of the oil spilled. Good Deal! :9

[truthisfreedom]

4. not exactly perfect, but much better than thousands upon thousands of

barrels of crude spilling into the ocean. the cars had some gasoline and 5 quarts of oil each, which will eventually be released into the drink. that's 1.2 gallons of oil each, for a total of 4800 gallons of oil plus a possible 10,000 gallons of gasoline (who knows how much was in each tank.)

[LesTalkMoreDo]

10. Why is it a good thing to dump cars into the ocean?

More resources will be used and pollution will be created to replace them. I don't see any good news here.

[TahitiNut]

2. "Luxury cars"?? Hyundai?? In what alternate universe?

:eyes:

[SharonAnn]

5. They've got a Model 300 - GX or something like that, it's pretty

awesome. Very, very nice. Competes in features, comfort, and extras with cars like Lexus.

I had one as my rental car on a business trip to Middletown, New Jersey on Sept. 10, 2001. After 9-11, when the planes weren't yet flying and I couldn't get any confirmed potential flights, I ended up driving back to Tennessee (1 1/2 day trip). It was an absolutely great highway car (and I already new it was a good city car).

When I get a new sedan, 1-2 years from now, I'm definitely going to consider that car. And I've never bought anything but an American car before. Oh, it also had a 10 year warranty.

So, I can't speak for their other models, but that particular luxury sedan is great.

[WVhill]

7. Glad your trip went OK.

Before you do buy a Hyundai, think about why they need to offer a ten year warranty.

[tkmorris]

9. That makes no sense at all

If the quality of the vehicles was poor that 10 year warranty would put them out of business. It is BECAUSE their cars last that they can offer it at all.

In the mid-80's they were different but the vehicles Hyundai makes now are a totally different animal from days gone by.

[WVhill]

14. That's great to hear. ntx

[last1standing]

13. Before you knock Hyundai...

Look up the facts.

http://www.jdpower.com/news/releases/pressrelease.asp?ID=2004037

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—For the first time, Korean-branded vehicles outpace both European- and Domestic-branded vehicles in initial quality, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) released today.

Manufacturers of Korean-branded vehicles, strongly driven by Hyundai’s performance, have aggressively cut initial quality problems by 57 percent in the past six years—dropping from 272 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) in 1998 to just 117 PP100 in 2004. This dramatic improvement is a stark contrast to the state of initial quality among the Korean-branded vehicles in 1998, when they trailed the industry-leading European-branded nameplates by an imposing 116 PP100. The Koreans now lead the Europeans by 5 PP100 and the Domestics by 6 PP100, and trail the Japanese by just 6 PP100.

"A decade ago, as Korean manufacturers struggled with a universally poor reputation for vehicle quality, no one would have predicted they could not only keep pace, but actually pass Domestics and other imports in terms of initial quality," said Joe Ivers, partner and executive director of quality/customer satisfaction at J.D. Power and Associates. "This demonstrates how vastly more competitive the market has become—which is good news for consumers, who will ultimately benefit."

<snip>

"The fact that Hyundai is now outperforming even perennial quality leaders like Toyota—and in a relatively short amount of time—is nothing short of remarkable considering the vast quality gap it faced just a few years ago," said Ivers. "This kind of improvement simply cannot be achieved without a serious commitment to quality over the long haul. The question now is whether Hyundai can demonstrate this same level of improvement in terms of new-vehicle launch and long-term vehicle quality."

<end>

I own a Hyundai Tiburon and Santa Fe. Both have been excellent vehicles at a cost the other car companies won't even begin to offer. When people tell me to support American companies, I ask them to name one. There is no such thing as an American car company today as they are all co owned by each other. The only difference is that the Japanese and Korean companies don't pay their executives nearly as well.

Edited to correct title.

[T Roosevelt]

3. Oh the irony!

[lumpy]

6. Reminds me of military tanks sunk

to form a barrier reef in Hawaii (I think it was Hawaii).

[Lou_C]

8. Since when is a Hyundai a luxury car?

I would like someone to fish one of those cars out of the water for me if it would still run and it would be a luxury car to me right now com paired to what I am driving.

[Bluebear]

11. Hyundai has come a long way, nice vehicles

[Lou_C]

15. I love Hyundai's they have a great warranty and I have owned one

My car had 148,000 miles on it before I had to junk it and I had the cheapest model that Hyundai makes. I didn't have to put much money into it and it was a very good car. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

[Deja Q]

12. Whoops.

So much for cheap cars. We all know who'll ultimately pay the bill: The consumers.

So much for cheap oil. (I'm sure none of it leaked out. Just as I'm sure I've grown 7 nose hairs in my left kidney... :eyes: )