Today "The Good Housekeeping Institute" awarded the Hyundai Sonata with its "What Women Want" Automotive Satisfaction Award for the entry mid-size car category. The study, based on an annual J.D. Power automotive study, is designed to find out what women find most important when buying a new automobile. While I think it is very nice that GHI does these awards, they do not take into account how the companies the companies actual interact with the women's market.
The NewCarBuyingGuide.com "Brand Preference Study for 2004" did not show Hyundai among either the top 10, or top 20 brands. And thus the data that we maintain from the nearly 1.4 million NewCarBuyingGuide.com readers is that Hyundai isn't a brand on their radar screens at all, despite having many qualities that women prefer.
Hyundai builds nice, sometimes great, cars. However it is almost impossible for women to find factual, in-depth editorial coverage of their products in the publications read by women. This means that the Hyundai reviews women are forced to read are written by journalists who do not take their needs into consideration. Hyundai is female-publication averse. It is my opinion, based on first hand experience, that Hyundai does not want women to have easy access to quality editorial coverage of their products. They want women to turn to men's publications to read reviews. No women's publications are invited to Hyundai product launches, making Hyundai one of a number of companies deliberately trying to keep women in the dark about the realities of their products.
NewCarBuyingGuide.com (now the only regularly published automotive magazine for women) is not invited to Hyundai press launches, nor are any other women's magazines. Chris Hosford, Director of Communications for Hyundai, and who determines the publications that will be allowed to attend the launches (and get the real scoop, and test drive their products) hates NewCarBuyingGuide.com. When we try to find out why he hates NewCarBuyingGuide.com (the only remaining women's automotive publication worldwide) is omitted from Hyundai press launches, Hosford refuses to respond, and he has done this for over 5 years. Chris Hosford has been sent dozens of email messages, and has been called repeatedly, yet he will not respond to anything he is sent, nor any message left for him, year, after year, after year. We have the records to prove it.
When we confronted Chris Hosford about the issue at the 2005 Los Angeles Auto Show he said, "you guys insulted me. I don't need to talk to you. I have returned your calls. F--k off. Go to hell..." (And while we might have already gone to hell...) It is a blatant lie that he interacts with us. Moreover we have reported his behavior to his superiors and they have ignored us too. Chris Hosford is a nasty, arrogant and foolish man who, puts a face to Hyundai's misogyny. Unfortunately Hosford is not alone in his slovenliness. It is an all too common trait among men and women working in the automotive industry, if you ask me. Clearly he represents Hyundai's true feelings toward the women's market, as it is his job to disseminate Hyundai policies.
Hyundai's misogyny:- Does not invite women's publications to press launches.
- Employs a very small percentage of women in their work force.
- Employs ZERO women in top-level management. (Source Automotive News)
- Most women working for Hyundai work in clerical positions.(Source NewCarBuyingGuide.com)
- Hyundai responds to nothing the women's automotive media requests of them.
- Hyundai invests a vastly smaller percentage of their marketing and advertising dollars to reach women.
- Low brand awareness among car-shopping women.
So Good Housekeeping Institute award or not, Hyundai will not interact with the women's market consistently, they don't support women's businesses, or hire them into significant numbers of management positions, nor communicate with women's preferred media outlets. Buyer beware; a decade of working in the automotive industry has taught us many things, among them that if an automaker doesn't interact with the women's media, they generally treat their female customers in the same manner, as the number of complaints about products from women attest.
Perhaps someday Hyundai will own up to their misogyny and start to behave like adults.
And last, but not least, Kia, Hyundai's sister company, DOES NOT behave the same way. And we have driven the new Sportage, and it's fantastic!
