Hyundai Motor Co. — not the up-and-coming Chinese, nor the leaner meaner Americans — is the automaker that has the Japanese seriously worried.
Talk to any Japanese auto executive and the official is likely to say the South Korean automaker is rapidly emerging as the most feared competitor to Japan's world-leading car companies.
"Hyundai is awesome," Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive Takanobu Ito said in an interview last week. "They are undoubtedly a threat because their products are cheap, and the quality is improving."